Hezbollah Supporters Attack Lebanon Anti-Govt Protesters

Supporters of the Hezbollah and Amal movements attacked Lebanese anti-government protesters in Beirut on Monday, with army reinforcements intervening to diffuse tensions.

Shortly before midnight on Sunday, men on foot and scooters arrived at a roadblock set up by anti-graft protesters across a key street in the capital, local television showed.

They shouted insults and chanted in support of the chiefs of the Shi’ite movements Hezbollah and Amal, before briefly breaking through and attacking some demonstrators.

Those at the roadblock chanted “peaceful, peaceful”, as the security forces and army reinforcements deployed in a thick line between both sides in the early hours of Monday morning.

Groups of young men threw stones at each other for hours, with security forces in the middle.

Several people were beaten and injured. A few Hezbollah supporters held up the Muslim Shia group’s large yellow flag, waving it and taunting the protesters on the other side.

Lebanon has faced five weeks of anti-government protests, fuelled by anger at corruption among the sectarian politicians who have governed the country for decades. Demonstrators want all of them gone from power.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and Amal were both represented in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned on October 29 after the protests began.

The heavily-armed Hezbollah had opposed Hariri’s resignation.