khazen.org condemns the attacks in Beirut – We pray for Lebanon its victims, peace and security
Fire and smoke is seen at the site of an explosion in Beirut’s southern suburbs January 2, 2014. The powerful explosion struck southern Beirut on Thursday, a stronghold of the Shi’ite group Hezbollah, killing at least 5 people and sending a column of smoke into the sky, a witness said. REUTERS/Jamal Sahili (LEBANON – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire following an explosion in Beirut’s southern suburbs, January 2, 2014.A powerful explosion struck southern Beirut on Thursday, a stronghold of the Shi’ite group Hezbollah, killing at least 5 people and sending a column of smoke into the sky, a witness said. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban (LEBANON – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
BEIRUT — An explosion rocked a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah group in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, killing at least five people, setting cars ablaze and sending a column of black smoke above the Beirut skyline.
The nature of the explosion that hit during rush hour in the Haret Hreik neighborhood was not immediately clear, but a Lebanese security official said it appeared to be caused by a car bomb.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar television channel showed scenes of chaos in a residential area, with smoke rising above charred cars, crowds of people pushing past one another and ambulances and fire trucks arriving. The channel said that at least three people had been killed and eight wounded.
The blast came six days after a car bomb killed a prominent member of the Future bloc, the Sunni party that is Hezbollah’s main political rival. And it came a day after reports surfaced of the arrest by Lebanese authorities of a Saudi militant who leads the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a group affiliated with Al Qaeda that claimed responsibility for a November suicide bombing at the Beirut embassy of Iran, Hezbollah’s ally.
The recent bombings are part of a string of escalating attacks in recent months believed related to the nearly three-year-old conflict in Syria, which has deepened Lebanon’s pre-existing political and sectarian divisions. Hezbollah backs the Syrian government, sending its fighters to aid the army, and the Future movement backs the insurgency, which Lebanese Sunni militants have crossed the border to join.