Hundreds clash with troops in Lebanese city as economic crisis deepens

Hundreds of protesters in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli have set fire to two banks and hurled stones at soldiers, who responded with tear gas and batons in renewed clashes triggered by an economic crisis spiralling out of control amid a weeks-long virus lockdown.

The clashes started in the afternoon, hours after a tense funeral was held for a 27-year-old man killed during riots overnight in Lebanon’s second largest city.

Fawwaz Samman was shot by soldiers during confrontations that began on Monday night and died in hospital hours later.

The violence is a reflection of rising poverty amid a crippling economic and financial crisis that has worsened since October, when nationwide protests broke out.

A lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus has further aggravated the crisis, throwing tens of thousands more people out of work.

The national currency has lost more than 50% of its value, and banks have imposed crippling capital controls amid a liquidity crunch.

Earlier in the day, hundreds marched in the funeral procession for Mr Samman, and gunmen fired in the air in a display of anger and mourning.

The man’s body was brought from his parents’ home and placed briefly in front of his motorcycle repair shop before he was laid to rest in a Tripoli cemetery.

Apparently to avoid more tension, his body was not taken to Nour Square, as previously planned. Most of the violence had taken place in the square.

Small protests also erupted elsewhere in Lebanon, leaving scores injured and more than a dozen people detained, according to the Lebanese military.

Last week, scattered anti-government protests resumed as authorities began easing a weeks-long lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus in Lebanon, which has reported 710 cases and 24 deaths so far.

In a statement about the overnight riots, the Lebanese army said “troublemakers who had infiltrated the protesters to attack banks” also threw firebombs and grenades at soldiers, setting a military vehicle on fire. It said 54 troops were injured across the country and that the army detained 13 people.