Fahmi Sounds Alarm on Crisis: Security Forces Unable to Perform 90% of Tasks

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi sounded the alarm about the impact of Lebanon’s crippling economic crisis on the performance and response of security forces.

In remarks to media outlets, Fahmi said: “The security forces are being depleted every day and we have reached rock bottom. We are unable to carry out 90% of our tasks to protect the homeland and citizens."

He stated that most of the vehicles are idle and out of order because of the inability to fix them due to the dollar exchange rate, adding that “the value of the security forces' salaries has declined significantly.”

Fahmi said the security situation is at risk in light of a deteriorating financial situation of the security establishment.

“My words are a wake-up call ... We are at the bottom due to the difficult financial situation that the Internal Security Forces organization suffers from, especially that the military’s salary has reached the limits of one hundred dollars,” Fahmi said.

The Minister emphasized that the only way for Lebanon out of the crisis is through the speedy formation of a government, “the state’s institutions are drained,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese army removed iron and dirt barriers that protesters placed on a number of roads in the capital Beirut and its suburbs, and areas in the north, south of the country and the Bekaa region, and reopened roads for traffic.

For a whole week, protesters burned tires and garbage containers to block roads across the country, amid a wave of anger over the collapse of the national currency, the poor economic situation and the political stalemate prevailing.

Lebanon is facing the worst financial crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990, after the local currency witnessed a significant decline in its value, due to a group of factors, on top of which was the outbreak of the Corona pandemic and the explosion of Beirut port last year.