Mawlawi presides over a meeting of the Central Security Council on Thursday. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced Wednesday the intensification of security measures to “prevent thefts” throughout the country. The move comes amid an increase in crime rates in the country that has been largely connected to Lebanon’s deepening socio-economic crisis.
Here’s what we know:
• At the end of a meeting with the Central Security Council, Mawlawi announced that the security forces would increase the number of checkpoints on roads with the aim of “preventing robberies.”
• “All thieves and troublemakers will be prosecuted and brought to justice and will not be able to find refuge in any part of the country,” the state-run National News Agency quoted the minister as saying.
• The upscaled measures will be taken in cooperation between the security services, Mawlawi added. “I will be personally present and will follow up on matters related to security … especially thefts and pickpocketing across Lebanon,” he said, according to the NNA.
• At the meeting, security officials also discussed Tuesday's robbery of a bank located in Zalka, Metn, that resulted in an injury to one person. On Thursday morning, the army raided an apartment in Amrousieh, where three suspects in the robbery were located. Two of them died when they tried to escape by jumping from the apartment’s balcony.
• Mawlawi said security measures will also be applied at houses of worship during the holiday season. He added that measures would also be implemented to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These provisions will “be announced soon,” he said.