Lebanese Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi has shed light on the crippling impact the ongoing crisis in Lebanon has had on security forces.
Fahmi said during an interview with a local radio station on Thursday that the crises that have engulfed Lebanon have affected security forces’ ability to maintain full security.
“Today, it is natural for us to completely lose our ability to fully control security in light of this chaos, especially since the Lebanese parties were unable to devise a national rescue plan to save what is left of the homeland,” he remarked.
“Security forces are being depleted every day, and we have reached rock bottom. We are unable to carry out 90% of our tasks to protect the homeland and the citizens,” he stated.
The official also revealed that half of the country’s security forces’ vehicles have become disabled, and noted that the value of the security forces’ salaries “have declined by a large margin.“
“I cannot say to the member of security forces, ‘It is fine if your son is hungry’ after this situation that we’ve reached. Loyalty to the security institutions remains, but it is not enough,” he stressed.
Commenting on the protests that erupted across Lebanon recently, Fahmi said that the poor living and social situation were what led people to take to the streets and to block roads…. “We preferred to respond to the citizens and cooperate with them,” he said.
“The opening of roads,” the official explained, “came after the tragedy that many roads witnessed, especially the accident that killed two young men on the Chekka Highway, and the roads will remain open.”
Caretaker Minister Fahmi’s comments come three days after General Joseph Aoun, Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, called on politicians to act in response to the crumbling value of the salaries of the military members as a result of the economic crisis.
