Clashes and counter-demos in Lebanon as Sharaa supporters celebrate Assad’s fall

Supporters of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa staged motorbike and car rallies across Lebanon overnight to mark the first anniversary of the ouster of Bashar al-Assad at the hands of an Islamist-led uprising.

The rallies sparked tensions and led to clashes in some areas, prompting an intervention by the Lebanese Army.

In the Sidon suburb of Haret Saida, the pro-Sharaa demonstrators clashed with supporters of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, who vandalized cars belonging to the revelers.

A clash also erupted at the Kfar Rumman roundabout in the Nabatieh district after a number of Syrians erected a picture of al-Sharaa, triggering a scuffle and an intervention by the army.

The pro-Sharaa supporters also staged motorcycle rallies in Tripoli, Aramoun, Corniche al-Mazraa and Khalde.

Supporters of Hezbollah and Amal meanwhile staged counter-rallies in Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of the capital, amid reports of gunfire in Beirut’s Qasqas area and the Beirut southern suburbs of Msharrafieh and Ghobeiri.

MP Ghassan Atallah of the Free Patriotic Movement meanwhile said that “Syria is nearby” and that the revelers can “return to Syria” to “celebrate victories” in their country, decrying that the rallies in Lebanon involved “provocations, chaos, attacks and shooting against the army.”