The rate of deserters from Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) has increased, caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi revealed on Tuesday.
Speaking to the Al-Joumhouria newspaper, Fahmi warned that ISF personnel were deserting the police force to seek alternative sources of income due to the ongoing crisis.
The security and the military institutions of Lebanon are the final line of defense for the Lebanese state, Fahmi noted, warning of the repercussions of the rising desertion cases.
The official stressed that these institutions must be reinforced and safeguarded.
Earlier this year, Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun raised the alarm on the impact of the crisis on the military institution, stating that soldiers were suffering and going hungry alongside their Lebanese compatriots.
Fahmi’s remarks come at the height of an economic crisis that is unprecedented in Lebanon’s history.
In addition to impacting their lives as Lebanese, the crisis has placed additional pressure on security forces due to the social unrest that accompanies shortages in essential commodities such as fuel and medicine.
In this context, Fahmi underlined the heavy impact of what he referred to as “the siege imposed on the Lebanese by the monopolists of fuel and medicine.”
He affirmed that security forces would continue to raid warehouses used for stockpiling monopolized materials, regardless of their owners’ political affiliations.
