U.S (Washington Insider Magazine) -The United States will provide an additional $67 million to Lebanon’s army, US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said while attending a press conference in Beirut, Thursday, Oct. 14.
Nuland said the US was collaborating with Lebanese officials, as well as the World Bank and humanitarian assistance organizations, to assist the nation in its grave economic crisis.
She expressed the nation’s sympathies on behalf of the United States when violence erupted in Beirut, killing at least six people and injuring many more.
According to authorities, the tragedy was caused by firing on protestors who were about to take part in a rally organized by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shi’ite organization. Demonstrators had gathered to demand the resignation of the judge overseeing the investigation into last year’s Beirut port bombing.
Hezbollah and its Shi’ite ally, the Amal movement, blamed the shootings on the Christian Lebanese Forces party.
Lebanon has been experiencing a financial collapse, which has resulted in a lack of essential necessities such as petrol. During the turmoil, Iran has provided petroleum to Lebanon.
A Country in Trouble
Lebanon is in the grip of a severe and protracted economic downturn. According to the World Bank Lebanon Economic Monitor (LEM), issued in June, the economic and fiscal crisis is likely to rank in the top ten, if not top three, most catastrophic crises occurrences worldwide since the mid-nineteenth century.
In the face of massive difficulties, policy inaction and a lack of fully effective executive power jeopardize already precarious socioeconomic conditions and a fragile social peace, with no apparent turning point on the horizon.
Massive Oil Plant Fire
On Monday, Oct. 11, firefighters extinguished a massive fire that started in a storage tank at one of Lebanon’s largest oil plants in the country’s south. The fire emitted orange flames and a strong column of black smoke into the sky.
Energy Minister Walid Fayad said the incident started as employees in the coastal town of Zahrani were moving gasoline from one storage tank to another. He estimated that 250,000 liters (66,000 gallons) of gasoline were used during the three-hour fire. No one was reported to have been injured.
The country is also amid a major power crisis, exacerbated by fuel shortages and resulting in power outages lasting upwards of 24 hours.