The General Directorate of Internal Security Forces – Public Relations Division issued the following communication:

After the tragic and unfortunate events that occurred in the city of Tripoli on Lille 1-27-2021, and to avoid any interpretation or distortion of the events that occurred, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces is interested in clarifying the following:

At 3:45 p.m., several citizens gathered in front of the Serail in Tripoli to protest the deterioration of economic and living conditions and the general closure.

The escalation began with some of the demonstration participants throwing stones and burning the Serail guard room and inspection door with gasoline, and the riot increased when several youths tried to enter the Palace of Justice and took off the main gate and began to throw stones at officers and vehicles in front of the Serail.

Around 5:00 p.m., several of them broke the lighting lamps and took off the garage of the new Palace of Justice that faces the entrance to the cars, and until that time the force in charge of maintaining security and order did not respond to the security breach, until they started dropping a large number of Molotov cocktails and a large number of cookies and stones on items inside the Serail.

Officers then sprayed water and fired tear gas canisters to ward off rioters and prevent them from entering the Serail, and at this moment the sound of several unidentified gunshots was heard near one of the adjoining buildings.

And the attacks continued in this way until 8:45 p.m., when 200 people from the protesters stormed the Serail, threw Molotov cocktails, burned and destroyed the cars and vehicles parked inside the parking lot, then the force again fired tear gas canisters to Take them out from the patio.

At 9:15 p.m., the protest square became a battlefield in every sense of the word, as rioters continued to drop Molotov cocktails, reaching more than / 300 /, and then / 3 / war bombs. Russian-made were thrown towards the entrances to the Serail and the main square, which exploded / 2 / As a result, several officers and personnel were injured and several vehicles were damaged.

Then, the force in charge of maintaining security and order took scaled, legitimate and proportionate measures according to the laws in force (Article 221 of Law 17) to legitimately defend the lives of the elements, centers and places that protect them, through dismissal . fire in the air as a warning and carrying out the dispersal operation, but some insisted on the attack. The operatives, who forced them to fire defensively to preserve their lives, and at the same time, several shots of unknown origin fired from outside the Serail.

The security forces lamented the riots, assaults and criminal acts that resulted in the death and injury of citizens and the injury of / 41 / officers and agents. / 12 / of them were injured as a result of the grenade throwing, including serious injuries and under medical supervision. Security is not responsible for the deterioration of economic and living conditions in Lebanon, especially in Tripoli. Rather, it continues to be the hope and guarantee, in this critical and delicate stage, of the security, freedoms and rights of citizens. together with other military and security institutions, to achieve a better tomorrow.

Warns those who violate security not to violate public and private property and members and positions of the security forces, and that they will be obliged to use all legitimate means in accordance with current laws to preserve the stability and security of the society. and citizens.

The investigation is ongoing under the supervision of the competent judiciary.