Lebanese army announce injury of 25 persons in riots by protectors in downtown Beirut

Beirut,( ST) – The Lebanese Army Command announced  that 25 military persons were injured in riots by some protestors  in the capital Beirut, warning that it will not tolerate those who disrupt security or those who tamper with it. 
 
A statement issued by the Directorate of the Lebanese Army Command said that, “while carrying out their  duty ,maintaining security and opening roads  ,Lebanese army units were subjected to stone-throwing and large explosions, which resulted in the injury of 25 persons, one of them was seriously injured. The army units arrested four people in the riot acts during the events.

In its statement, the Directorate  of the Lebanese Army Command warned against the consequences of being drawn into sedition, stressing the necessity to show responsibility, awareness and wisdom to preserve civil peace. It called on the citizens to commit to security measures, warning that it would not compromise with any disturbing security or tampering with stability because the security of people and the homeland is above any other consideration. 
  
Calm prevails in Beirut and Sidon after riots last night.

Calm prevailed since this morning in Beirut and its suburbs, and the city of Sidon, while the Lebanese army conducted patrols in various regions, after riots last night.

The Lebanese National News Agency said that the army opened the first road that protesters closed last night  and the roads of the city of Sidon.
 
About the riots that took place in the capital Beirut last night, Lebanese President General Michel Aoun condemned the acts of violence and attacks by a number of people on shops and institutions and on the military and security forces who were carrying out their duty to maintain security and prevent riots. 
 
President Aoun said in a statement issued by the media office in the Republican Palace today that “our national  strength  is derived from each other and our strength has been and will remain and in our national unity whatever our political differences.”

 
The Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri considered that “every act from any party that targets the unity of the Lebanese, their security and stability is an Israeli act, and that any voice that promotes sedition among the people of the one homeland is a voice that serves the Israeli enemy.”  He called for the necessity of awareness and wisdom.

In a statement, Hezbollah strongly warned against the causes of sedition and its beneficiaries and all those who promote sedition,expressing its total rejection of everything that could lead to division, difference and tension. 
 
In a statement, President of Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Lebanon Sheikh Abdul-Amir Qablan denounced “suspicious attempts to stir up strife among the Lebanese people and strike their national and Islamic unity to achieve political goals that serve the Zionist enemy who is againstour security, stability, and unity.” 
 
On the other hand, 26 people were injured yesterday during the riots by some demonstrators in the center of the capital Beirut, where a number of rioters threw stones, water bottles and firecrackers at the Lebanese security forces and smashed stores of a number of shops in central Beirut. 

Rioters exploited the demonstrations protesting the deteriorating socio-economic conditions in Lebanon to seek achieving political targets and vandalizing public and private properties.

Raghda Sawas