Lebanon's security forces are drained and unable to fulfil their duties as the toll of the country's financial meltdown slashes their salaries while they try to keep the peace in the middle of a political deadlock, the country's caretaker interior minister said on Wednesday.
In an interview with local VDL News, Mohammed Fahmy blamed political parties that are unable to agree on a national rescue plan.
"It is only natural that we are unable to perform our security duties in a complete way amid this chaos, especially when Lebanese political parties could not put forward a national salvation plan to save the nation," he said.
"Security forces are being drained daily, we have reached rock bottom ... I am talking about 90 per cent of our duties, we are no longer able to perform them to protect the people and the nation."
Lebanon protests – in pictures
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A bandana-clad anti-government demonstrator gestures as she stands by the smoke of burning tires at a makeshift roadblock in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Lebanon's capital Beirut. AFP -
Protesters took to the streets after the Lebanese pound plummeted to a record 10,000 to the US dollar. AFP -
A Maronite priest pleads with anti-government protesters to let him pass with his vehicle as he stands next to burning tyres at a makeshift roadblock in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Lebanon's capital Beirut. AFP -
Anti-government protesters sit next to burning tyres at a makeshift roadblock in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Lebanon's capital Beirut. AFP -
Soldiers clear burning tyres set up by anti-government protesters at a makeshift roadblock in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Lebanon's capital Beirut. AFP -
Young men lit tyres on the streets in various cities to show their anger.. AFP -
Anti-government demonstrators erect a brick wall to block the highway at the southern entrance of Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli. AFP -
Protesters move a tree to block a main highway, during a protest in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut. AP Photo -
A protester smokes a cigarette as he aims to block a road during a protest in Beirut. AP Photo -
Protests also occurred in southern Saida, in Qornayel and the Bhamdoun villages in the Mount Lebanon governorate. AP -
Tyres burn at a make-shift roadblock made by anti-government demonstrators in the city of Byblos, north of Lebanon's capital. AFP -
Demonstrators stand on a bridge as smoke rises from tyres set on fire in Jal el-Dib. Reuters -
An anti-government demonstrator draped in the Lebanese national flag stands at a make-shift roadblock in Byblos. AFP
Mr Fahmy repeatedly said that the political crisis blocking work to fix the dire economic crisis was taking a toll on national security and lawlessness would get worse as the situation deteriorated.
Lebanon's financial crisis, which erupted in 2019, has wiped out jobs, locked people's bank deposits and raised the risk of widespread hunger.
It also piled strain on army and security forces because the currency crash wiped out most of the value of their salaries at a time when unrest and crime are surging.
Mr Fahmy's comments came two days after Lebanese army chief Gen Joseph Aoun berated politicians and said soldiers were going hungry, like the rest of the nation.
"The solution starts with forming a government to save what is left of this nation," Mr Fahmy said.
Lebanon's economic crisis was compounded after a port explosion last August devastated whole tracts of Beirut, killing about 200 people.
The explosion led to the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab's government, which has stayed on in a caretaker capacity.
But Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, since his nomination in October, is at loggerheads with President Michel Aoun and has been unable to form a new government to carry out much-needed reforms to unlock international aid.
Mr Fahmy fears the country is heading for the worst. "Three months ago I would say the security situation is starting to break down, now I am saying it has broken down, all possibilities are open."
