Lebanon protesters torch ruling parties’ offices

Attackers in northern Lebanon set fire to the offices of two major political parties on Sunday, the state-run National News Agency says.

The assaults come just hours after the capital Beirut is rocked by the most violent government crackdown on protesters since nationwide demonstrations began two months ago. Lebanese security forces fire rubber bullets, tear gas and use water cannons throughout the night to disperse anti-government protesters from the city center — the epicenter of the protest movement in Beirut — and around parliament.

The overnight confrontations in Beirut leaves more than 130 people injured, according to the Red Cross and the Lebanese Civil Defense.

In the northern Akkar district on Sunday, attackers break the windows and torch the local office for resigned Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s political party in the town of Kharibet al-Jindi.

In a separate attack in Akkar district, assailants storm the local office of the largest party in parliament, affiliated with President Michel Aoun and headed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. Their party says the contents of the office in Jedidat al-Juma town had also been smashed and burned.

Lebanon is facing one of its worst economic crises in decades, and the protesters accuse the ruling political class in place for three decades of mismanagement and corruption.

— AP