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."
An AFP photographer saw at least ten fainting cases among the demonstrators, as a result of tear gas. He said that youths sabotaged and uprooted automatic parking meters and broke glass billboards.