Pictures .. hit stones, logs and traffic lights in the Lebanon clashes

Downtown Beirut witnessed violent confrontations on Saturday afternoon between demonstrators and security forces, who were attacked by angry protesters with stones, logs, and traffic lights, in an unprecedented way, before they responded by firing water cannons and tear gas.

March 2 marches started from several points in Beirut under the title "We will not pay the price", in protest at the delay in forming a government that would put an end to the economic meltdown. Before arriving in the center of Beirut, where security forces closed an entrance leading to Parliament headquarters with iron obstacles, a group of protesters attacked a human shield from the riot police.

The oldest, according to live scenes broadcast on local television and an AFP photographer, threw stones and containers at the security forces. A number of them also uprooted young trees and traffic lights from the street and attacked the security forces directly with them.

The security forces responded by firing water cannons and then tear gas to disperse them. In a tweet at her expense, the Internal Security Forces stated that "rioting personnel are being exposed violently and directly to one of the entrances to the House of Representatives, and therefore we ask peaceful demonstrators to move away from the place of riots in order to preserve their safety."

A young photographer told AFP that young men had sabotaged and uprooted automatic parking meters and had broken glass billboards.

The confrontations between the demonstrators and the security forces in downtown Beirut have left at least 165 wounded on both sides, according to statistics from the Lebanese Red Cross, whose teams are helping the injured.

A spokesman for the Red Cross said on Saturday evening that the organization's teams, which had become in a "state of utmost alert", had transported more than 65 people from central Beirut to the nearby hospitals for treatment, while providing more than a hundred people at the place.

In connection, Lebanese Interior Minister Raya Al-Hassan said that it is unacceptable that protesters attack security forces.

"I have pledged more than once that I protect peaceful demonstrations, and I have always stressed the right to demonstrate," she added in a tweet. However, these demonstrations turn into a blatant attack on members of the security forces and public and private property, as it is condemned and totally unacceptable.