Security forces fire tear gas as Hezbollah supporters, protesters clash in Lebanon

Police officials were firing tear gas amid violent altercations in the capital city of Beirut, Lebanon. The confrontations between extremist group Hezbollah supporters and the police forces started after Hezbollah supporters came on scooters and hit protesters with metal rods and clubs, shouting in support of the extremist organisation. According to reports, this was followed by police officials and soldiers making a human barrier in between both sides.

According to reports, men were throwing stones at each other with the human barrier in between and that resulted in many people getting beaten up and suffering injuries. In addition to this, people who were supporting Hezbollah were waving the extremist organization's yellow flag and taunting the people on the other side of the human wall. Hezbollah supporters were witnessed shouting slogans in support of the extremist organisation and a few fired flares in the direction of the riot police and protesters on the other side of the wall. Also, protesters blocked roads in areas that lied north of Beirut and in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

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The head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, stated that the violent confrontations were influenced by foreign powers and were no longer considered spontaneous and added that the Lebanon could be dragged towards a civil war and also said that protesters should no longer block roads and paralyse operations in the country.

'Considered to be one of the worst protests'

The nationwide protests are considered to be one of the worst in Lebanon with protesters witnessed to have put forward demands to end corruption and poor management by the government for nearly three decades. These protests led to Prime Minister Saad Hariri led government to step down on October 29 and since then people in the political sphere to agree on a new cabinet despite the declining economic crisis.

Read: Fear, Turmoil In Lebanon As Its Financial Crisis Worsens

According to reports, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, and head of its Middle East subcommittee, Ted Deutch stated that Lebanon continued to be plagued by threats from extremist groups ISIS, Al Qaida and its associates alongside an increasing presence of militant group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party and an extremist group with a base in Lebanon. The militant group was founded in the 1980s as part of an effort to organise different militant Lebanese Shia groups into one unified militant organisation.

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(With inputs from agencies)