Islamists Riot in Roumieh's Ward D

Islamist inmates at Roumieh prison staged a riot on Friday and reportedly held hostage a number of guards.

Media outlets said the Islamists began to riot at Ward D, where they had been transferred earlier in 2015.

They added that a number of officers were taken hostage in the unrest.

MTV placed the number of hostages at 20, while al-Jadeed television said that three were captured.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq later told LBCI television that the situation at the prison was "under control.”

“No matter the cost, chaos will not gain ground in the jail as it used to in the past,” he declared.

Later on Friday, media outlets said members of the Internal Security Forces' elite Strike Force had entered the facility and were "searching the building and pursuing the inmates."

Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks and escalating riots in recent years as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.

The Islamist prisoners were initially held at Roumieh's block B, but they were transferred to the new ward following increased lawlessness and worsening conditions.

In January, security forces took full control of block B after storming the overcrowded facility and seizing illegal items from Islamist prisoners.

Around 800 to 900 inmates, most of them Islamists, were transferred to the new block D.

M.T./Y.R.