Lebanon activists go on hunger strike, demanding minister at center of trash crisis resign

Waref Suleiman, a Lebanese activist, holds a hunger strike with other activists outside the Environment Ministry in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Several Lebanese activists launched an open-ended hunger strike on Thursday, demanding the resignation of the environment minister at the center of the country’s trash crisis. The activists set up tents outside the Environment Ministry in downtown Beirut. Several supporters joined the 11 hunger strikers Thursday evening. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Lebanese activists hold a hunger strike outside the Environment Ministry in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Several Lebanese activists launched an open-ended hunger strike on Thursday, demanding the resignation of the environment minister at the center of the country’s trash crisis. The activists set up tents outside the Environment Ministry in downtown Beirut. Several supporters joined the 11 hunger strikers Thursday evening. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Lebanese activists wave national flags and shout slogans outside the interior ministry during a sit-in demanding the release of two protesters arrested by plainclothes security agents at gunpoint in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Half a dozen Lebanese activists have begun an open-ended hunger strike, demanding the resignation of the environment minister at the center of the country's trash crisis.

The activists began their hunger strike on Thursday, setting up tents outside the Environment Ministry in downtown Beirut.

The hunger strike comes two days after protesters walked into the ministry and staged a sit-in. That standoff with security forces lasted for hours.

Many Lebanese are angry over the government's failure to find a solution for garbage that has piled up in the capital after the main landfill was closed in July. Protests have grown beyond the garbage issue and now target the government and entire political class.

The minister, Mohammed Machnouk, said he will not resign.