BEIRUT: Several roads in Beirut’s southern suburbs were closed Sunday after members of the Miqdad family burned tires in protest over a land dispute in the Jbeil town of Lassa, a security source told the Daily Star.

However, the source said that the Internal Security Forces reopened the three roads with the help of Civil Defense units who doused the fires.

“A judicial decision last week against the Miqdad family had triggered the angry protest and the road closures,” said the source. According to the source, Msharrafieh-Ghobeiri, Ghobeiri-Mar Mikhail and Hadi Nasrallah highways were blocked for two hours.

Land disputes in Lassa have increased in the past several months after the Maronite Patriarchate said that Lassa residents are carrying out illegal construction on land owned by the church.

Residents of Lassa have confronted officials who tried to survey the land, and disputes are now being taken to court in an attempt to resolve the rows.