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NEW YEAR

Mawlawi calls for 'firm measures' against celebratory gunfire

A bullet hole is seen in a Middle East Airlines (MEA) passenger plane, after it was hit by a stray bullet while landing in Beirut, with no injuries reported, according to MEA head Mohammad el-Hout, Nov. 10, 2022. (Credit: Middle East Airlines/Handout via Reuters)

BEIRUT — Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi issued a circular Tuesday calling on security forces and Beirut and Mount Lebanon governorates to take "repressive and firm measures" against celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve.

The circular was addressed to the Internal Security Forces, General Security and Beirut's international airport security to prevent the customary shooting. 

Each New Year, "many shots are fired [into the air], especially in the governorate of Beirut and Mount Lebanon," allowing bullets to fall down on the airport premises, posing a "danger to the safety of civil aviation," Mawlawi said.

A month ago, a Middle East Airlines plane was hit by a stray bullet, which pierced the fuselage of the aircraft, after it landed in Beirut.

Following this incident, MEA director Mohammad el-Hout said that "seven or eight planes are hit per year" by stray bullets in Lebanon.

In January, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines temporarily suspended its flights to Beirut after discovering "damage" caused by a bullet hole in the fuselage of one of its planes that had landed in Lebanon the day before. And in Jan. 2021, several MEA planes were damaged after being hit by stray bullets during New Year's celebrations.

Such incidents are often recorded in Lebanon, where gun ownership is poorly regulated.


BEIRUT — Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi issued a circular Tuesday calling on security forces and Beirut and Mount Lebanon governorates to take "repressive and firm measures" against celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve.The circular was addressed to the Internal Security Forces, General Security and Beirut's international airport security to prevent the customary shooting. Each...