Lebanese protesters clash with supporters of Hezbollah, Amal in downtown Beirut

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Clashes broke out between anti-government demonstrators and supporters of the Shi'ite movements Hezbollah and Amal in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, early on Monday, live footage on Lebanese television channels showed, as tensions escalated when demonstrators blocked a main bridge downtown.

Protesters initially began to scuffle and their numbers quickly rose, footage on social media showed.

Army soldiers and riot police formed a barrier between the dozens of protesters on opposite sides of the Ring bridge as they threw rocks at each other across the street.

(Reporting by Issam Abdullah, Laila Bassam and Nadine Awadalla in Beirut; Additional reporting by Nayera Abdullah in Cairo; Editing by Peter Cooney)