Retired Lebanese security forces officer kills ex-wife in Tripoli

The killing comes amid a sharp rise in security and domestic violence incidents in recent years

Tripoli's impoverished neighbourhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. AFP

A retired member of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces shot and killed his ex-wife in broad daylight in a Tripoli neighbourhood on Tuesday, the country’s state news agency reported, highlighting weakened security conditions as the nation suffers a steep economic collapse.

The Internal Security Forces serve as Lebanon's police and counter-terrorism service.

The man, identified only as “A.S.” by the National News Agency, fired a hunting rifle at his ex-wife in Tripoli's impoverished Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood.

The army arrested him at the scene, the state news agency reported.

Lebanese officials maintain that the security situation is under control despite a rise in robberies and murders in the years since Lebanon’s economic crisis began.

Earlier this month, a prominent Sunni cleric disappeared in broad daylight on his way to Tripoli. His body was found buried in Akkar a week later.

Women’s rights groups have documented a sharp increase in domestic violence cases since 2019, when symptoms of Lebanon's economic crisis first began to emerge.