Reports: Fundamentalist Groups Likely behind Dahieh Attack
Fundamentalist groups were probably responsible for the attack on the Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb on Tuesday, reported the Central News Agency on Wednesday.
Security sources denied to the agency that a Hizbullah official was the target of the blast, revealing that the security agencies have some leads that can direct them to the perpetrators.
March 14 sources meanwhile said that such an attack on a Hizbullah stronghold was expected seeing as the party is involved in the fighting in Syria.
Its involvement has paved the way for several groups to exploit the situation and work on creating chaos in Lebanon, they added.
They also did not rule out the possibility that the attack could have been a set up to pin the blame on a certain side, when in fact another power may have been behind it.
At least 53 people were wounded in the explosion that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Bir al-Abed neighborhood, which is a Hizbullah stronghold.
On Wednesday evening, LBCI television reported that “an olive-green Kia entered the Bir al-Abed area at 10:45 a.m. and its driver parked it at the parking lot of the Islamic Cooperation Center before leaving the street to an unknown destination.”
“At 11:00 a.m., exactly 15 minutes after the car was parked, the explosion went off,” it added.
Security sources told the TV network that "reports in some newspapers and media outlets -- especially about intercepting phone calls between inmates in the Roumieh prison and the plotters of the attack – cannot be verified as long as the judiciary overseeing the probe has not been informed of the details and has not yet received the surveillance cameras and the footage from the main political party (Hizbullah) in Bir al-Abed.”
“In the wake of the blast, members of Hizbullah removed the surveillance cameras that were installed in the area surrounding the parking lot and retrieved the footage from the businesses and shops,” the sources added.
“All possibilities are being considered, although most of the fingers are being pointed at Takfiris,” the sources said.
LBCI revealed that “Hizbullah has recently received information that Dahieh might be targeted by car bombs or suicide attacks and that one of them might be carried out by a man disguised as a Shiite cleric."
"Hizbullah is on alert in Beirut's southern suburbs, monitoring and investigating any suspicious behavior, but it seems that the Bir al-Abed blast exceeded its expectations,” LBCI added.
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