Lebanese troops deployed Tuesday in different parts of the country to reopen roads and main thoroughfares closed by anti-government protesters faced resistance in some areas, leading to scuffles.

In most places, protesters withdrew peacefully as the troops moved in. But in Beirut's northern suburb of Zouk Mosbeh, a scuffle erupted when some demonstrators refused to move away from the main highway linking Beirut with northern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army made several arrests in Beirut's northern suburb of Zouk Mosbeh as it scrambled with protesters who refused to open the road and were forcefully removed from the main highway.

Demonstrations in Lebanon continued for the twentieth consecutive day on Tuesday where protesters blocked key roads accusing political leaders of stalling on the formation of a new government amid differences over who should be included.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned last Tuesday, meeting a key demand of the protesters. They have been holding demonstrations since Oct. 17 demanding an end to widespread corruption and mismanagement by the political class that has ruled the country for three decades.

Turkey captured the elder sister of the slain leader of the Islamic State group in northwestern Syria on Monday, according to a senior Turkish official, who called the arrest an intelligence "gold mine."

Little is known about the sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Turkish official said the 65-year-old known as Rasmiya Awad is suspected of being affiliated with the extremist group. He did not elaborate.

Lebanese demonstrators blocked key roads around the country on Monday after a weekend of mass rallies confirmed that political promises had failed to extinguish the unprecedented protest movement.

A Lebanese court has sentenced a man to death for twin car bombings in 2013 that targeted two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli, killing 47 people, state-run National News Agency reported Friday.

NNA said the Judicial Council sentenced Youssef Diab to death on Friday.

By claiming a right to Syria's oil, President Donald Trump has added more complexity — as well as additional U.S. forces and time — to an American military mission he has twice declared he was ending so the troops could come home.

Extending the mission to secure eastern Syria's oilfields happens to fit neatly with the Pentagon's view — supported by some Trump allies in Congress — that a full withdrawal now could hasten a revival of the Islamic State group, even after the extremists lost their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a U.S. raid.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday said the country's next cabinet should include ministers picked on skills, not political affiliation, seemingly endorsing the demand by a two-week-old protest movement for a technocratic government.

"Ministers should be selected based on their qualifications and experience, not their political loyalties," Aoun said in a televised speech on the third anniversary of his presidency.

Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation, saying it would "contribute to wasting the time available to implement reforms," complicating efforts to resolve the crisis.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the Loyalty to Resistance bloc added that security forces must protect people's right to express themselves as well as "their right to move freely in all areas of the country."

Lebanese security forces were still struggling to open some roads Thursday as protesters continued their civil disobedience campaign in support of nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

Protesters meanwhile staged a rally outside the central bank in Beirut’s Hamra area before marching to the Ring highway and Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut – areas which have witnessed attacks on protesters by supporters of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement.