Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi issued a circular on Tuesday calling on security forces and Beirut and Mount Lebanon governorates to take "repressive and firm measures" against celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve.

The circular was addressed to the Internal Security Forces, General Security and Beirut's international airport security to prevent the customary shooting. 

Each New Year, "many shots are fired [into the air], especially in the governorate of Beirut and Mount Lebanon," allowing bullets to fall down on the airport premises, posing a "danger to the safety of civil aviation," Mawlawi said.