More than 200 people were hurt in the Lebanese city of Tripoli during a third night of clashes Wednesday between security forces and demonstrators angered by a coronavirus lockdown and severe economic crisis.
Protesters threw petrol bombs and stones towards security forces, who responded with tear gas, an AFP correspondent said.
The National News Agency said 226 people had been injured in the evening -- 102 of them treated by the Lebanese Red Cross, and another 124 by the Islamic Medical Association.
At least 66 people had been hospitalized.
On Twitter, the security forces reported nine injured among their ranks.
Tripoli was already one of Lebanon's poorest areas before the coronavirus pandemic piled new misery onto a chronic economic crisis.
Many of its residents have been left without an income since Lebanon imposed a full lockdown earlier this month in a bid to stem a surge in Covid-19 cases and prevent its hospitals from being overwhelmed.
A round-the-clock curfew is in force nationwide and grocery shopping is restricted to home deliveries, which are often unavailable in poorer areas.
Authorities have extended the lockdown by two weeks to February 8.
Protesters tried to enter a government building, while others gathered in the city's central Al-Nour Square, the scene of mass demonstrations against the political class that began in late 2019.
Gunfire was heard near the protest site, the AFP correspondent said, while demonstrators set fire to the entrance of a police building.
After several hours of clashes, security forces deployed reinforcements to disperse the demonstrators and prevent them from storming the governorate's headquarters.
But protesters remained in the neighboring alleyways, where the clashes continued late into the night.
Demonstrators in other parts of the country also blocked major roads on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
In the capital Beirut, protesters burned tires near the parliament, while others blocked the road to the sports stadium with dumpsters and more flaming tires, the National News Agency said.
Night-time clashes in Tripoli between security forces and demonstrators had already injured at least 45 people on Tuesday and 30 on Monday, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
The army said 31 soldiers were hurt in Tuesday night's exchange. It was not immediately clear how many soldiers were included in the Red Cross toll.
