BEIRUT: Security has been beefed up at Lebanon’s Roumieh prison complex after an inmate tossed a tear gas canister overnight at the jail, a security source said Wednesday.

The source, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said the tear gas canister, apparently confiscated during a recent prison revolt, was tossed in Bloc D of the facility around midnight.

The last major prison mutiny took place in September when Roumieh inmates took 10 policemen of the Internal Security Forces hostage during a two-hour riot at the facility. Five policemen and 15 inmates were wounded in the riot.

The security source said members of the ISF elite Rapid Intervention Force as well as the special Fuhood, Arabic for Panthers, unit were dispatched early Wednesday to Roumieh to prevent any further possible act by inmates.

In Bloc B of the same prison, some 187 inmates began a hunger strike Wednesday in an effort to pressure authorities to reduce the prison term from 12 years to nine months.

Inmates have staged similar strikes in recent months urging the government to reduce prison sentences and also in protest against the Parliament’s failure to pass a draft law allowing prisoners to seek a reduction in their prison terms.