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Lebanon has faced severe shortages for several months, leading to long queues at gas stations and violent clashes between people desperately in need of fuel.
According to the country’s news agency, Lebanon’s scarcity of fuel supply turned into a deadly violent incident involving guns, knives and grenades on Monday, killing three people.
Lebanon is facing severe fuel shortages for several months, leading to long queues at gas stations and plunged the small country that relies on private generators into long periods of darkness.
The shortage is blamed on smuggling, hoarding and cash shortages. The government cannot ensure the delivery of imported fuel. As the financial crisis has deepened since 2019, the government has reduced fuel subsidies and the crisis has worsened.
The Lebanese currency has plummeted and is now sold on the black market at a price of 20,000 Lebanese pounds to the U.S. dollar, while the official exchange rate is fixed at 1,500 pounds to the U.S. dollar. The price of a gallon of fuel has risen by more than 220% last year, triggering a panic and prosperous black market.
The fuel crisis has evolved into violence before, and drivers clashed at the gas station after waiting for a long time and running out of fuel. But Monday’s death reflects people’s growing frustration about the problem that continues to deteriorate.
The Lebanese National News Agency said that in one incident, a gun battle broke out in a fuel sales transaction, apparently after a disagreement-this encounter resulted in the death of two men.
According to reports, the violence started in the Badawi region and spread to the northern city of Bab al-Tibenneh in Tripoli. The details of the disagreement are not yet clear, but the agency stated that there was an exchange of fire between the two and one time a grenade was thrown.
The army dispersed and deployed around the local hospital. During the man’s funeral, violent gunfire was heard in the air. According to local media reports, their killers surrendered.
Another conflict started at a gas station in the northern village of Bakhoun in the Dinniyeh region. A man was shot dead in the melee; the agency said he was taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Zgharta, where he died from his injuries. The gunman surrendered to the authorities.
Fadi Abu Shakra, a spokesman for the fuel distributor, told local TV station Al Jadeed TV: “The situation is very difficult and we can’t handle it for too long.”
The Lebanese National Electricity Company, which relies on imported fuels, has expanded the rolling blackout system and now only provides about one hour of electricity to homes and businesses a day.
This prompted private generator operators to shut down their engines to limit fuel consumption and plunge the entire region into hours of darkness. The hospital warned that they had been unable to obtain diesel and the closure of medical facilities threatened the already troubled health department.
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