BEIRUT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2020) The Lebanese Red Cross said on Saturday that the number of people injured during clashes of protesters with law enforcement in Lebanon's capital of Beirut had exceeded 165, as the military reportedly used tear gas and water canons to confront the violent rallies.
Protesters from across Lebanon flocked to Beirut earlier in the day to attend a rally, touted "Saturday of outrage," near the parliament building against economic mismanagement and weakening national currency. Clashes with law enforcement ensued as protesters attempted to storm the building's fences. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has ordered the army to the capital to protect peaceful protesters and keep the situation under control.
"18 teams from the Lebanese Red Cross are responding to the protests in downtown Beirut. Over 65 people, until now, have been transported to nearby hospitals and over 100 people have been treated at the scene. The Lebanese Red Cross is now at its highest alert level," the Lebanese Red Cross said on Twitter.
�According to a Sputnik correspondent reporting from the scene, confrontation is ongoing in the Martyrs' Square in the city center, with the military using tear gas grenades and water cannons to push back protesters which throw stones, metal rods and firecrackers at them. Some protesters reportedly plan to regroup and carry out an advance on police positions. Garbage bins are set on fire in the area.
Law enforcement have urged peaceful protesters to leave the areas of pogroms, threatening detentions.
Mass protests engulfed Lebanon last October amid a crippling economic crisis. People have been demanding urgent reforms to end the deepening liquidity crisis, which the country's president has blamed on sanctions. The resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government last fall failed to remove people from the streets.
In absence of a new cabinet ever since, the Lebanese watch their national Currency continue plummeting against the US Dollar, having lost more than 60 percent of its value.
