BEIRUT: Protesters poured into the streets of the Lebanese capital on Saturday to decry the collapse of the economy, as clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of the Iran-backed Shia group Hezbollah.

Hundreds filled the streets in and around the protest hub of Martyrs Square in the centre of Beirut, with skirmishes also between protesters and security forces, who fired tear gas.

Forty-eight were wounded in the violence, 11 of whom were hospitalised, while the rest were treated at the scene, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

It was the first major anti-government rally attracting demonstrators from across the country since authorities relaxed a lockdown imposed in mid-March to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

“We came on the streets to demand our rights, call for medical care, education, jobs and the basic rights that human beings need to stay alive,” said 21-year-old student Christina.

Many protesters wore face-masks as part of hygiene measures imposed to fight the pandemic, which has severely exacerbated an economic crisis, the worst since the debt burdened country’s 1975-1990 civil war.

But Saturday’s protest turned violent as supporters of Hezbollah clashed with some demonstrators who were demanding that the group disarm.

Hezbollah is the only group to have kept its weapons since the end of the Lebanese civil war, deeply dividing Lebanon along political lines.

“No to Hezbollah, no to its weapons,” said a sign held up by Sana, a female protester from Nabatiyeh, a city in southern Lebanese, a Hezbollah stronghold.

“Weapons should be only in the hands of the army,” said the 57-year-old.

Supporters and opponents of Hebzollah threw stones at each other prompting the army to intervene by forming a human chain to separate them, a photographer said.

Supporters of Hezbollah, which is also represented in the government and parliament, chanted: “Shia, Shia.”

Security forces fired tear gas near a street leading into the parliament building behind Martyrs Square, after some demonstrators pelted them with stones and ransacked shops in the area. Some protesters set fire to garbage bins as anti-riot police advanced towards them.

Lebanon has been rocked by a series of political crises in recent years, before an economic crunch helped trigger unprecedented cross-sectarian mass protests in October.

The demonstrations forced the government to resign and a new one headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab was approved by parliament in February, tasked with launching reforms and combatting corruption.

But many Lebanese say the new administration has fail­ed to find solutions to the country’s manifold problems, including a grinding recession and spiralling inflation.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2020