Inmates Riot at Zahle Prison as Assailants Open Fire on Warden's House

Several inmates rioted at the prison of the eastern city of Zahle on Wednesday to protest the transfer of two other convicts to another prison, media reports said.

They said the prisoners burned their belongings in one of the cells, which prompted guards to call for firefighters to put out the blaze.

The inmates being transferred from Zahle prison were identified as Sobhi Zoaiter and Ali Haidar al-Masri.

According to the reports, Zahle prison like all other prisons in the country is overcrowded. It includes at least 560 inmates at a time that it can take in only 350 prisoners.

Later, reports said that unknown assailants opened fire on the house of the prison warden, Shawqi Damen, in the the eastern town of Tamnine, causing material damage only.