Lebanese protesters and police are clashing in Beirut into late Sunday, as security forces sprayed thousands of demonstrators with water cannons in a second night of rallies sparked by an ongoing trash crisis.

Video from the capital after dark on Sunday showed streams of water knocking down demonstrators, who defiantly stood back up and gathered behind makeshift barricades to remain in the streets. Protesters also threw projectiles at security forces.

Beirut residents gathered near the offices of Prime Minister Tammam Salam, angered after weeks of trashing piling up around the country following the shutdown of an over-capacity landfill.

The protests were also a chance to voice anti-government sentiment , with “revolution, revolution” among the chants ringing through the crowds.

Political deadlock has left Lebanon without a president for more than a year.

“I decided to come to this protest because for once we are speaking about social rights, about minimum standards of living,” said 22-year-old Yara Safadi told VOA.

“We don’t have that here. We have garbage filling the streets, electricity cuts and more, it’s a huge catastrophe and we can’t go on living like this.”

The piles of trash were largely removed from sight in the capital in recent weeks, but anger grew when it emerged that much of the trash was simply being dumped elsewhere in the country.

Journalist John Owen in Beirut contributed to this report.
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