Key Lebanon Roads Blocked after Hizbullah, AMAL Supporters Attack Protesters
Key roads around Lebanon were blocked by anti-government protesters on Monday following clashes throughout the night with AMAL and Hizbullah supporters.
Protesters responded with anger at the night attacks blocking key roads around the country and in Beirut’s vital streets.
The confrontations began when protesters blocked the street and were attacked by supporters of Hizbullah and AMAL, with army reinforcements intervening to diffuse tensions.
Shortly before midnight on Sunday, men on foot and scooters arrived at a roadblock set up by the protesters across a key street in the capital, local television showed.
They shouted insults and chanted in support of the chiefs of Hizbullah and AMAL, before briefly breaking through and attacking some demonstrators.
Those at the roadblock chanted "peaceful, peaceful", as the security forces and army reinforcements deployed in a thick line between both sides in the early hours of Monday morning.
The counter-protesters also headed to a main nerve centre of protests nearby and destroyed tents there.
Lebanon's massive protests against corruption and mismanagement by the country's political elite are now in their second month, but have so far remained largely peaceful.
The confrontations on the Ring Road, which broke out late Sunday and dragged into Monday morning, were some of the worst since the nationwide demonstrations began on Oct. 17.
Iran-backed Hizbullah alleges the protests are being exploited by foreign powers with an agenda against the group.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press, Agence France Presse
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