A dispute over the scarcity of fuel supplies led to sectarian tensions between the Shi’ite Muslim village of Ankoun and the Christian village of Maghdouche in Southern Lebanon.
The incident escalated when a resident of the Maghdouche village filed a complaint with the police after being injured in a dispute over fuel. Police forces visited the Ankoun village to investigate.
Following this, villagers blocked roads and burnt trees. A security source reported that the army was forced to intervene in the matter, and the situation was calm on Monday.
The Shi’ite Amal movement took to social media to denying any involvement and condemning the violence, saying it had, “no relation in any way shape or form to what happened in Maghdouche.”
Clashes due to the extreme gasoline and diesel shortage have become a daily occurrence in Lebanon.
The financial meltdown the country is facing has forced more than half of the population into poverty. The country’s currency has sunk by more than 90% in two years.
Senior Sunni Muslim cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian said that Lebanon was heading towards a complete collapse if the crisis was not combated.
The meltdown has been accompanied by a political crisis; Lebanon has been without a government since the last one resigned last year.
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is the third to attempt to form a cabinet in the last year. According to him, there were grave hurdles standing in the way of the country’s stability.
