Children detained for tearing down political banner as protests continue in Lebanon

Hezbollah supporters attacked protesters in central Beirut late on Sunday

Lebanese protesters in Martyrs' square in Beirut on Sunday. EPA

Lebanese security forces briefly arrested five youths, including three minors, for pulling down a sign for the president's political party, sparking an outrage on Sunday.

Defence lawyers said the five were taken into custody on Saturday evening in the town of Hammana, east of Beirut, over claims they tore down a sign for President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement.

Security forces released them at midnight after taking a statement from them, the Committee of Lawyers for the Defence of Protesters said.

The army said two of the children were 15 years old and the third was 12.

The news sparked anger on social media, in the latest outcry for a country that has been gripped by spontaneous anti-government protests since October 17.

"Down with the regime that arrests children," one user said.

"When a 12-year-old child manages to shake the state's throne, you know the state is corrupt," another wrote.

During the first month of demonstrations, security forces arrested 300 people, including 12 minors, who were released within 24 to 48 hours, the lawyers' committee said.

But 11 people, including two youths, remain in detention accused of attacking a hotel in the southern city of Tyre during the first week of the uprising.

The demonstrators managed to bring down the government less than two weeks into the protests, but it remains in a caretaker capacity and no new cabinet has been formed.

Late on Sunday, protesters blocked major roads in several parts of the country and called for a general strike the following day in protest against the lack of progress in forming a new government.

Earlier in the evening, hundreds had gathered in protest centres in Beirut, the northern city of Tripoli and in Tyre.

In Beirut's Martyrs' Square, hundreds of women and men demanded their rights, some waving the national red, white and green flag or chanting "Revolution, revolution".

Supporters of the militant Hezbollah group attacked demonstrators protesting against Lebanon’s political elite in central Beirut.

The attacks by young men armed with clubs and metal rods chanting pro-Hezbollah slogans began late on Sunday and continued after midnight, as riot police and soldiers tried to stop them reaching the protesters.

Lebanon's protests have brought together people of all ages from across the political spectrum, tired of what they describe as sectarian politics three decades after a civil war.

In the latest show of unity, a festive mood reigned on Sunday afternoon as Lebanese came together in public spaces across the country.

North of the capital, women prepared traditional salads to share while a group of men danced on a beach south of the city.

The Free Patriotic Movement party founded by Mr Aoun is now led by his son-in-law, interim foreign minister Gibran Bassil, who is one of the most reviled figures in the protests.