Security forces managed to release on Saturday at 1:30 Am twelve policemen and two doctors who were held captive by Islamist inmates at the Roumieh prison.
On Friday (April 18), the Internal Security Forces’ Riot police units stormed Roumieh prison’s newly-rehabilitated Bloc D after inmates had set their mattresses on fire and taken hostage a number of guards.
Five ambulances along with Red Cross medical teams arrived to the scene in anticipation of possible escalation.
Security sources told LBCI that the main focus was to free the hostages and put an end to the rioting before fully delving into the root cause and addressing it.
The riots, according to the inmates, come in response to overcrowding and the implementation of stricter regulations to prevent the smuggling of drugs and weapons to inmates at the prison.
In a tweet, Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said “the situation is under control, Roumieh prison will not return to its former state no matter the price.”
Roumieh prison, which has witnessed sporadic riots and jail breaks, holds almost 5,500 inmates and is known to be the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded jails.
The prisoners have been able to communicate outside with mobile phones and security sources have said some are involved in attacks against the state.