President Michel Aoun has requested a meeting for Lebanon’s Central Security Council to discuss the current security situations in the country, the Presideny said on Thursday.

“In clarification to what the MTV channel mentioned this evening about President Michel Aoun not agreeing to inviting the the Higher Defense Council to a meeting to discuss the current security situations, the Presidency’s press office notes that President Aoun has requested a meeting for the Central Security Council,” the office said in a statement.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement announced Thursday that there are “suspicious hands that are working on plunging Tripoli into chaos” despite “the rightful scream that reflects the reality of social suffering in popular neighborhoods.”

In a statement, Mustaqbal said there is information confirming “the presence of a suspicious matter that reminds of the era of security chaos and the armed clashes that used to erupt at the request” of certain parties.

The Lebanese Forces on Thursday voiced support for Tripoli’s impoverished residents while stressing its rejection of “sabotage” and any attacks on security forces.

“Why is the government not performing its responsibilities towards its people, especially daily workers,” the LF’s Tripoli department announced in a statement.

A new round of clashes broke out Thursday afternoon in Tripoli between security forces and demonstrators protesting dire economic conditions aggravated by the coronavirus lockdown.

The protesters staged several attempts to storm Tripoli's serail, the main governmental building in the city, prompting security forces to fire tear gas from rooftops. They later managed to remove a part of the metallic gate of the building.

Mourners in Tripoli on Thursday laid to rest a 30-year-old killed during violent confrontations the previous night between protesters and security forces, the latest unrest as the nation grapples with both the pandemic and the worst economic crisis in Lebanon's history.

More than 220 others were injured in the clashes in Tripoli as frustrations boiled over amid deteriorating living conditions and strict coronavirus lockdown measures. The violence marked a serious escalation in protests that began Monday and continued for three straight days into Wednesday night, denouncing the extended shutdown that exacerbated already dire conditions amid the unprecedented economic and financial crisis.

Caretaker Minister of Health Hamad Hassan, and Information Minister Manal Abdul Samad, launched on Thursday the national platform for registration for the coronavirus vaccine, in a press conference held at the Ministry of Public Health.

One of the protesters injured overnight in the Tripoli clashes with security forces succumbed to his wounds on Thursday, the National News Agency reported.

Egypt announced on Thursday that three planes loaded with medical and humanitarian aid were sent to Lebanon to help it cope with the coronavirus.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim reportedly held separate meetings on the government impasse with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, PM-designate Saad Hariri, and with FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil, al-Akhbar daily said on Thursday.

Intense clashes were underway between protesters and security forces Wednesday evening in the northern city of Tripoli.