Riot police forcibly removed protesters, many of them injured, from the Environment Ministry in the capital, Beirut.

The unexpected takeover of the ministry by a number of activists demanding the resignation of the environment minister over the country's trash crisis opened the possibility of protracted instability in a fragile country already facing multiple crises.

Angry protests that suddenly erupted last month over the government's failure to deal with the garbage crisis have evolved into the most serious anti-government demonstrations in Lebanon in years.