Lebanese soldiers kill three demonstrators

Lebanese soldiers killed three demonstrators and wounded eight others when they fired on an anti-government demonstration in the capital Beirut today.

The clash came amid increasing anger over Lebanon’s ballooning deficit and what is seen as the government’s mismanagement of the economy.

Stone-throwing protesters wounded three soldiers, officials said. The soldiers were confronting protesters who blocked traffic with burning tyres in Hay al-Soulom, a densely populated, poor district.

The protest followed a call to strike in protest the government’s economic policies and demand a reduction in the price of petrol.

In recent months Lebanon has experienced a series of usually peaceful strikes over the state of the economy. Today’s strike was more widespread than the previous strikes, an indication of growing frustration. Schools and universities were closed and flights at Beirut airport stopped for three hours.

Security officials said soldiers fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse the protesters, but some bullets hit the demonstrators.

Witnesses said the trouble began when soldiers tried to arrest three demonstrators for setting tyres alight. The rest of the crowd surrounded military vehicles, throwing stones and demanding the three be released.

The soldiers at first fired into the air and then into the crowd, witnesses said. Later, firing soldiers chased protesters through streets darkened by smoke from burning tyres.

The protest started with only about 40 people, but grew to around 2,000 as word of the violence spread.

Protesters, mostly van and taxi drivers angry at high fuel prices, threw stones, piece of wood and glasses at soldiers and military vehicles, witnesses said.

The last time civilians were killed in clashes with security forces in Lebanon was in 1993, when the army fired on a Hezbollah-organised demonstration in Beirut, killing more than a dozen of people.