TT On-The-Go
TT Feed
| Car bomb injures 53 in Beirut suburb |
|
 |
 |
 |
Font Size 
 A car bomb injured 53 people in Dahiyeh, south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, on Tuesday.
The bombing occurred in the stronghold of the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah, and the main suspects are the allies of the foreign-sponsored militants fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that are operating in Lebanon.
It seems that the target of the blast was to put rival Lebanese groups, which have taken different positions in the Syrian conflict, against each other.
The powerful blast in a bustling commercial and residential neighborhood came as many Lebanese Muslims began observing the holy month of Ramadan, and is the worst explosion to hit the area in years.
A group of about 100 angry Hezbollah supporters marched in the area after the blast.
Hezbollah operatives fired in the air to disperse people who attacked the interior minister with stones after he inspected the scene of the blast, trapping him for 45 minutes in a building before he was escorted through a backdoor.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel is seen by some Shias as sympathetic to hardline Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir, who was agitating against Hezbollah for months and is now on the run.
"This is a message, but we will not bow," said Ziad Waked, a municipal official speaking to Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.
Tuesday's explosion struck the area of Beir el-Abed, and was caused by a car bomb, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. They said the blast was in a parking lot near the Islamic Coop, a supermarket usually packed with shoppers, and a petrol station.
"The explosion was so strong I thought it was an Israeli air raid," witness Mohammad al-Zein said. "My wife was sleeping in bed and all the glass fell on her, injuring her in the mouth, arms and legs."
Another resident said that he was fasting on the first day of Ramadan and was on his way to shop for the evening meal that would break his daylong fast.
"I was riding my motorcycle on my way to a sweets shop and then there was this massive explosion that knocked me off and I fell on the ground," said a 52-year-old employee of a private company. He declined to be named out of security concerns.
The area is a few hundred meters (yards) away from what was known as Hezbollah's "security square" where many of the party's officials live and have offices. Nasrallah received dignitaries there before the 2006 war. The security square was bombed out by Israel in that conflict.
Tuesday's explosion is one of the biggest in the area since the end of the country's 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.
"It is a large area heavily populated. No force in the world can protect every area and every street," Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Moqdad said.
Television footage from the scene revived memories of that conflict, when car bombs set by sectarian groups were common. There have been numerous car bombs targeting politicians and journalists since then, but random car bombs have been rare.
Hezbollah operatives in civilian clothes, some of them carrying Kalashnikov rifles, cordoned off the site of the explosion with yellow ribbons. They and Lebanese security officials barred journalists from approaching the site itself.
Ambulances and fire engines, their sirens wailing, raced to the area and witnesses said casualties were rushed to the nearby Bahman and Rasoul al-Atham hospitals. Immediately after the blast, people could be seen running in the street away from the site of the explosion which set several cars on fire.
The power of the explosion shattered windows and damaged several buildings in the busy residential and commercial area. A security official said the bomb was placed in a car and that it weighed 35 kilograms.
  Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
|