According to local press sources, an armed man entered a bank in Al-Aziyah, southern Lebanon, on Friday and demanded the recovery of his savings money under threat of force.
An official news agency said, “Citizen M.Q., accompanied by another individual, approached a bank branch in Ghazieh, Sidon District demanding the recovery of his savings.”
In addition to threatening to burn down the branch if he wasn’t handed his deposits, the guy “deliberately threatened the personnel with a military weapon,” the agency said.
Security personnel who were on the scene finally won the shooter over, it added. The man was able to get $19,200 from his savings, according to a Lebanese broadcaster, and give it to a person who was waiting for him outside.
After the bank refused to give customers their money in US dollars, there were several incidents throughout Lebanon.
Banks in Lebanon have had stringent caps on withdrawals of Lebanese pounds and prohibitions on depositors’ use of foreign currency, particularly the dollar, for more than two and a half years. Since 2019, Lebanon has been dealing with a serious economic crisis that has kept most citizens from accessing their bank accounts.
