Central Beirut Protests Witness Minor Rioting and Confrontations

Anti-government protesters rallied Tuesday afternoon in central Beirut where some of them blocked some roads as others vandalized some facades and hurled stones at army troops.

“Protesters blocked the road outside the building of the Association of Banks where the smashed its facade and those of nearby shops as well as traffic signs,” state-run National News Agency reported.

At the nearby Martyrs Square, protesters chanted “Not Peaceful, Not Peaceful, This is a Popular Revolution!”, amid the deployment of riot police.

As an army force arrived at the square, the protesters pelted its vehicles with stones, which prompted it to retreat to the Saifi Village.

Protesters later blocked the iconic Ring highway where tensions erupted with security forces and some motorists before the return of calm. Riot police meanwhile distributed medical masks to protesters not wearing face protection as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Protesters later blocked the Saifi road as security forces reopened the Ring-Ashrafieh road.

Elsewhere, protesters briefly blocked the Qasqas road in Beirut and the Beirut-South highway in the Naameh area.