Angry Lebanese depositors vandalise banks, burn tyres in Beirut suburbs

Lebanese protesters smashed the windows and doors of banks in a Beirut suburb area on Thursday to demonstrate capital control measures on cash withdrawals.

Dozens of angry depositors in the Sin El-Fil neighbourhood caused damages to branches of Bank Byblos, Bank of Beirut and Bank Audi as part of planned action led by the Depositors Outcry Association - a group that supports depositors' attempts to withdraw their money.

Protesters smashed the facades of the banks and set tyres on fire outside the premises, causing a plume of black smoke over the suburb of the Lebanese capital.

The association condemned the capital controls and called them "the biggest theft in Lebanon’s history". 

Videos circulating on social media platforms showed protesters holding banners criticising the continued controls on withdrawals.

Army personnel and fire crews later attended the scene, according to local media reports.

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Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed strict restrictions on withdrawals, barring depositors from accessing their savings, especially those in US dollars.

Depositors have carried out similar attacks in recent months to demand access to their money, which have repeatedly closed for days.

Lebanon's economic crisis has left many struggling to make ends meet in a country where poverty rates have reached 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations.

The pound's plunge has triggered a wave of price hikes including on fuel, food items and other basic goods.

Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government and is also without a president, as lawmakers have repeatedly failed to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose mandate expired at the end of October.