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.

Thick plumes of black smoke blanketed the city’s skyline as ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast, the second in the capital in less than a week.

Hundreds of people flocked to the site of the explosion, a densely populated neighborhood of the southern suburb, and helped Lebanese Red Cross personnel move the wounded from the rubble that littered the area.

The car bomb damaged dozens of vehicles parked nearby as well as several buildings in the commercial, residential area.

Minutes after the explosion, gunshots were fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported that an explosive-rigged, four-wheel-drive vehicle was parked on the Al-Areed Street.

Thursday’s blast comes only days after a car bomb in Downtown Beirut killed former Minister Mohammad Shatah and seven others.

Lebanon has been hit by a spate of deadly security incidents linked to the ongoing crisis in neighboring Syria.