Police cut off access to downtown Beirut on Tuesday, erecting a series of barriers to keep protesters out of the center of the Lebanese capitol.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets for weeks demanding government accountability and action on a mounting garbage crisis gripping the city.
Heaps of trash have been slowly piling up on Beirut's streets after authorities closed the capital's main landfill on July 17, and an alternative has yet to be found. Protesters have rallied online using the hashtag #YouStink to organize regular protests in the city.
The barriers also blocked traffic in the downtown area, leaving Beirut at a standstill. According to local newspaper The Lebanon Daily Star, protesters kicked balls with their demands written on them across the barriers.
Blocking Downtown Beirut From The People Is Unacceptable; This Is The True #AbouRakhousa http://t.co/Z2vdnwKdn0 pic.twitter.com/1CQpkhydR9— E. (@eliefares) September 22, 2015
Downtown #Beirut now as access closed off to the public amid recent protests. pic.twitter.com/gFADsGBztC— Josh Wood (@JWoodJourno) September 22, 2015
Riot police lined the streets to keep the group of protesters from making its way into downtown Beirut.
One city resident likened the new walls to post-WWII Berlin.
#Beirut will not only take u to different eras with its archeological sites but also to post war Berlin #youstink pic.twitter.com/A4R1u6DfCF— Ali Kiblawi (@Alikiblawi) September 22, 2015
The trash crisis has ignited some of the largest protests in the country in years and has called the government's ability to provide basic services to the population into question.
On Sunday, hundreds broke through police lines at the Lebanese parliament demanding the government end the two-month-old crisis.
The protests quickly moved beyond just the trash in the streets to target an entire political class that has dominated the country and undermined its growth since the civil war ended in 1990. Lebanon has a sectarian power-sharing system that often leads to incessant bickering and cronyism among the country's politicians.
Riot police gearing up to keep a small group of protesters from crossing the wall into downtown #Beirut pic.twitter.com/1HlFQJdr04— Josh Wood (@JWoodJourno) September 22, 2015
Thousands of people have taken part in huge demonstrations over the past few weeks. Among other things, they are demanding new parliamentary elections, followed by presidential elections.
Lebanon has been without a president for more than a year, and members of parliament have controversially extended their term twice amid disputes over an election law.
Some information from the Associated Press.