The General Directorate of Internal Security Forces issued a statement regarding the assaults on the Tripoli Courthouse.
The National News Agency reported that the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces - Public Relations Division released a statement concerning the assaults on the Tripoli Courthouse. The agency clarified that the statement included an explanation about individuals from various fields disseminating misleading data and false, unrealistic information through the media regarding the assaults on the courthouse and the role of the Internal Security Forces in defending it.
The statement emphasized that the Internal Security Forces protected the courthouse, as it represents the state's image and authority, despite the desperate attempts of rioters to storm it using 16 military grenades and about 600 Molotov cocktails and others, aiming to kill and injure as many personnel as possible and to set the courthouse on fire. When they failed in their plans, they turned to the Tripoli municipal building and set it on fire.
Regarding the forces present at the courthouse, the statement clarified that when the pressure increased on the Internal Security Forces and the imminent danger to the courthouse and its protective personnel escalated in the evening, with the riot police strength not exceeding 100 members in addition to the personnel already stationed at the courthouse, orders were given to the special forces of the Information Branch and the Panther Detachment of the Mobile Forces to proceed from Beirut to Tripoli. Plans were made to protect the courthouse, and these plans were executed accurately to maintain security and order, using all legal means available to safeguard the courthouse, which is what occurred.
The Internal Security Forces confirmed their readiness to submit to any judicial investigation affecting everyone and are prepared for accountability. Meanwhile, the head of the "Arab Unity Party," Wiam Wahhab, called on President Michel Aoun to conduct a serious investigation, revealing the involvement of officers in the incidents that occurred in Tripoli.
