BICOM

A powerful car bomb ripped through a southern Beirut neighbourhood yesterday, a stronghold of Hezbollah, killing at least fourteen people and injuring around 120.

The explosion occurred in the Rweiss district, which is heavily populated by Shi’ites and from where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah often addresses his followers. The bomb, which was reportedly heard across the city was described by the Times as potentially the deadliest single bombing in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war. The Lebanese Armed Forces stated that 60-80kgs of explosive materials were used in the blast.

A previously unknown Sunni Islamist group calling itself the Brigades of Aisha claimed responsibility for the attack via a video statement in which it warned Nasrallah “you will see more.” The attack was thought to be retaliation for Hezbollah’s strong military support for the Assad regime in Syria and increases fears that the Syrian conflict will spill over into Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters led a recent assault on Syrian opposition forces in the town of Qusair and are thought to be preparing an offensive in Homs.  The Brigades of Aisha also warned Syrians to leave areas of Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah, which includes large swathes in the south of the country. The blast was the second to hit a Hezbollah stronghold within a month, after around fifty people were injured in a similar explosion in Beirut’s Beir al-Abed district.

Despite the statement by the Brigades of Aisha, Lebanese president Michel Suleiman claimed that the attack bore the hallmarks of “terror and Israel.” Lebanese prime minister designate Tammam Salam also said that the blast “serves Israel’s interests.” There has been no official response by Israel to yesterday’s events, but an unnamed senior defence official told YNet that Nasrallah is “now paying the price” for having “significantly intervened in the Syrian war” and said “Israel will continue in its non-involvement policy.”