Protestors block roads and burn tires in Tripoli, North Lebanon, on July 1, 2022. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Enraged demonstrators blocked several roads in Tripoli, North Lebanon, late Friday in protest of deteriorating living conditions resulting from Lebanon’s ever-deepening economic and financial crises, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the NNA, the protesters closed all accesses leading to al-Nour Square, one of the hubs of the Oct. 17, 2019, uprising against the political establishment.
• Following the road blockages on Friday, the army and security forces were deployed to the scene, as well as to the perimeter of the city’s Serai.
• Being the poorest city on the Mediterranean, Tripoli regularly sees social unrest resulting form its worsening poverty. In 2020, after several days of protests, clashes between protestors and the police left some dead and others injured.
• The road closures in Tripoli coincide with a sharp increase in telecom tariffs, against the backdrop of a triple-digit inflation rate.