Hizbullah Turns Beirut's Southern Suburbs into 'Fortress'
Streets leading into powerful Hizbullah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut have been cordoned off, as guards in civilian clothes search a long line of cars.
Hizbullah was already accused of running a "state-within-a-state," but two car bombings in the area in as many months have spurred Hizbullah to turn the suburbs into a fortress.
At entrances to "dahieh", or the suburbs, young loyalists of the group which has thrown its military weight behind Syria's embattled president order drivers to open up their car boots.
Others wear uniform, carry walkie-talkies and are members of the Hizbullah-run "Union of Municipalities of the Southern Suburbs".
They also stop and ask for the IDs of bikers entering the densely populated neighborhood.
"It's time to be vigilant. People are more relaxed when they see us," a Hizbullah guard told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.
Backed by Tehran and a key ally of Syria's President Bashar Assad, the heavily armed Hizbullah suffered a severe blow on Thursday when a car bomb killed 27 people.
The attack, Lebanon's bloodiest since its 1975-1990 civil war, came just over a month on from another car bomb attack in the same area that wounded around 50 people.
Thursday's bombing was claimed by an unknown cell that said it was revenge for Hizbullah's engagement in Syria's war alongside Assad's troops.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused radical Sunni Islamists of staging the attack.
Beyond the improvised checkpoints at main roads and bridges around the suburbs, drivers park their cars in cordoned-off streets and metal barriers block off alleyways.
Critics accuse Hizbullah of using its arsenal to impose its will, such measures reinforce the fortress-like image of the southern suburbs, where the Lebanese army and police rarely venture.
The party has long worked in secret, especially when it comes to security. But today, its draconian measures appear to be making residents feel safer.
In the Rowais area, near the target of the latest bomb attack, people conceal their fears when speaking to journalists.
"Naturally, everything has changed. This was a safe neighborhood," said Moussa, a thirty-something who owns a lamp store damaged by the August 15 bombing.
But the man who "miraculously" survived the attack added: "We are not afraid. Even the Israelis couldn't scare us."
-- 'Syria's war has arrived here' --
Hizbullah fought a devastating summer war in 2006 against Israel, which used its air force to bombard the southern suburbs nightly for a month, flattening hundreds of apartment blocks.
Dahieh's defiance is vented on neighborhood walls. "Never will we be humiliated," reads a sign posted on a building damaged in the latest bombing.
Hizbullah, meanwhile, has been getting to work repairing the damage, with members of the movement's Jihad al-Binaa (Struggle for Reconstruction) organization fixing destroyed balconies.
After the 2006 war, it was this group that took charge of rebuilding southern Lebanon, outdoing the Lebanese government.
Hizbullah's critics say the party itself is to blame for the bombing because it has sent troops across the border to fight in Syria.
But in the massively pro-Hizbullah neighborhood, no one criticizes the group, despite the anxieties the bombing has stirred.
"We hope there won't be any new attacks, thanks to God and the resistance (Hizbullah)," said Zeinab, a young mother of two girls.
Far from the gaze of Hizbullah's guards, other residents say they fear new car bombs.
"Everyone here is thinking, where will the next one hit? Ouzai? Hay al-Sellom?" said one man, Mohammed, referring to two neighborhoods of the southern suburbs.
"Many Shiites have traveled to Iraq on pilgrimage, and they know what it's like there, the attacks, the checkpoints," he said.
People have started to fear that crowds and especially busy areas might be the targets of new bombings, like in Iraq.
"We think it's better to avoid popular markets, but what we're really worried about is the reopening of schools," Mohammed added.
Such fears are just as valid in other Hizbullah bastions.
In Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, armed men in civilian clothing inspect vehicles at night and have set up metallic barriers at the entrance to the city, an AFP journalist said.
Residents say that Syrians are the prime suspects in the attacks.
Because of Hizbullah's involvement in Syria's war, the conflict has spilled over into Lebanon.
"Syria's war has arrived here," said a young Hizbullah loyalist tasked with security in the Beirut suburbs. "And this is just the beginning."
21 August 2013, 08:13
411
not acceptable.
they want to protect their areas by screening them with cameras fine. but they have no right whatsoever to stop and search cars, open luggage, etc.
Elected Parliament Members of Lebanon, ISF, LAF, do you jobs and put en end to this charade now because we're heading towards a huge war.
21 August 2013, 08:31
49
Pretty soon you will need a visa to visit Dahié and Baalbek. Please apply at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. Ask for the Hezbollah office..
Someone here keeps posting "Partition, please". We're well on the way.
21 August 2013, 17:20
21
FT. Don't waste your time with these fools. This is what happens when you have an inept government. All the educated leave the country and their children become non-Lebanese of Lebanese heritage and the ones left behind are cavemen. Let's just all say RIP Lebanon.
21 August 2013, 08:21
69
it'll drain our dying economy further.... no good for the respectable lebsnese that we are.
time isn't of the essence in this case.... they pop out children like our beloved palestinian neighbors. there'll always be someone to continue wat they started. the president, the army, ISF must take their responsibilities and enforce the current laws. no weapons outside the state! it is as simple as this.
i'm heading to bed, it's late here. good night banima. enjoy ur day and every1 else too.
21 August 2013, 12:44
55
indeed that is hilarious, he considers himself respectable, and even lebanese!! hahaha primesuspet the israeli chill is giving us advice now :)
on the matter hand, yes of course HA is going to do everything they can to protect the people against terrorist bombings, and those who are searching the cars know they are on the front line and will likely be killed as soon as a suicide bomber arrives, but they chose that over letting those pigs blow themselves up in more crowded areas and kill innocents. the whole difference between pigs who hide behind civilians, and heroes who protect them with their lives is visible here, and of course that's going to piss off the haters and cowards
21 August 2013, 16:34
22
Primesuspect, your nothing but a bigoted fool. All you do is bark online while living in south america. Either remove hezballah or accept them instead of always whining. Nobody does anything to remove hezballah yet you complain when they act as they please. Either stop them or accept them. Dont just sit online 24/7 complaining. I prefer hezballah over the likes of you and benzona. They act while all you do is whine from outside lebanon sneaking in some pro-israel statements every now and then only to bark when people get suspicious of you being "israeli". Pathetic creatures indeed. Your not men, your pathetic and weak with no principles.
21 August 2013, 16:34
22
Primesuspect, your nothing but a bigoted fool. All you do is bark online while living in south america. Either remove hezballah or accept them instead of always whining. Nobody does anything to remove hezballah yet you complain when they act as they please. Either stop them or accept them. Dont just sit online 24/7 complaining. I prefer hezballah over the likes of you and benzona. They act while all you do is whine from outside lebanon sneaking in some pro-israel statements every now and then only to bark when people get suspicious of you being "israeli". Pathetic creatures indeed. Your not men, your pathetic and weak with no principles.
21 August 2013, 08:30
39
"the southern suburbs, where the Lebanese army and police rarely venture"... that is an understatement.
21 August 2013, 08:35
44
This not fair. When nosra bombs Dahieh, HA does checkpoints to enforce security for Danish residents. But when "Israel" bombs Antelias, ain Alak, and ashrafieh, HA does no checkpoints there to protect us from'israel'.
21 August 2013, 12:48
33
are you saying you wish HA to set up checkpoints in antelias and ashrafieh? i suggest you convey your demands to your local representatives, and ask them to officially transmit the request to HA, i'm sure if they did HA would help them in every possible way they can.
21 August 2013, 08:39
413
They should move that entire area to Tehran and rid us of their filth.
21 August 2013, 09:01
310
God Bless the Islamic Iranian Resistance aka HA (Hussain Army) for turning Dahiyeh and other Shia areas into self-imposed security ghettos. These precautions are absolutely necessary to finalize what has already been declared the Islamic State of Lebanon. We also must thank GMA and SHN for telling us these attacks might hit Christian and Sunni areas as the "planned" evil hands of terror do not differentiate between patriotic Lebanese. I for one started as of last night (with Alona) carrying out security checkpoints on our street in Ghazeer by checking ID's and searching cars for indecent acts.
21 August 2013, 09:48
92
Well just imagine if your own village is under siege ? I & our fellow villages would resort to the same security checks on who goes out & who comes in ! Wouldn't you ? It is called self preservation , a natural human instinct, regardless of sect , religion , or political affiliation !
Signed Wolf !
21 August 2013, 11:17
91
Yes agreed, it baffles me really. Achrafieh did the same thing, and rightfully so. Civilian vigilantism is a good thing.
21 August 2013, 21:30
01
you are a truly low person and a liar. Achrafieh did the same thing? who is paying you to spout this drivel
21 August 2013, 10:45
12
i understand why they are doing this, but this is a form of vigilantism. if hizb iran does this, other groups will start doing this and if the army tries to interfere in those cases, people will point to hizb iran getting preferential treatment further exasperating sectarian ties. hizb iran is already looked on unfavorably by other sects in lebanon and this will make it even worse.
of course i would say that dahieh will suffer economically because of this but since it appears that most of its economy is based on some kind of crime, it doesn't appear that it will suffer that much.
21 August 2013, 11:51
62
Ah come on you Yahudis on this site ! You are known one by one for a start !
Why can't you refer this exact replica in the illegal settlements of the West Bank ?
Who are manning the post & vigilantism against their Palestinians counterparts ?
Are they not the settlers' themselves ?
On top of all that it is illegal settlements , that is in plain language " Stolen Property " !
Backed by the IDF ?
But at least in our Holy Cedar Land we are & will if we have to protect every village or suburb that WE OWN ...NOT STOLEN !!!
Not like you Yehudi's who steal ! Ashraf el Nass al Yahudi !
Signed Wolf !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
21 August 2013, 12:23
23
again, you make no sense. are you taking what your masters are giving you and throwing it into google translate?
21 August 2013, 12:51
53
It is amazing how to expose how many Yahudis are on this site , just by the mere fact of Thumbs down that does not suit their interest ! Shin Beit , Mossads IDF all are terrorist one way or another !
Signed Wolf !!!!!!!!!!..........!!!!!!!!!............
21 August 2013, 19:41
01
Well, you have finally admitted it. Anyone who does not agree with you must be a Jew, a Zionist, working for Mossad, Shin Bet or whatever.
Have you never thought that perhaps someone not agreeing with your way of thought might actually be seeing the truth and not what you want to be your truth.
21 August 2013, 13:35
23
Lorientlejour states also that ISF jeep was stopped and checked at HA checkpoint...
21 August 2013, 14:11
14
1- je suis pas benzona, mr le parano, si t'avais 2 neurones, t'aurais remarquer que benzona ecrit avec des accents et pas moi-> claviers differents->pays probablement different..
2- tous les journaux peuvent etre pris au serieux, tant que c'est pas almar
3- reste dans ta propagande a 2 balles, va cirer les pompes de ton nasrallah
4- bonne journee
21 August 2013, 14:26
21
In Nahr el Bared, militants used Army uniforms to escape and mount attack in one incident. Although understandable, I am not defending their actions; they should stop their nonsense of self-government and cooperate with state institutions to ensure security, it has gone long enough. Civilian vigilantism is good, but when the government proposes taking over, pertinent forces must comply. Shame.
21 August 2013, 15:32
11
Franchement, comme cèdre te le dit, t'es complètement paranoïaque... Et comme tu le sais que trop bien qui pense mal agit mal.
الله يلعن بشار & نصر الله
21 August 2013, 14:50
14
Awireless, your nasrallah is an arab or did you forget that? Why does shiites claim to be sayyids, if you hate arabs so much all of a sudden? By the way, your land and properties? Nice one. Tyre, dahyeh and many other shiite areas became shiite in recent history by expelling the real residents of those areas.
21 August 2013, 16:56
01
What have arabs contributed to the world? Here you go: http://www.adc.org/?id=247
Honestly, you are as bigoted as primesuspect and his fellows when you write things like that. You do know that the shiite tribes of the east are bedouins aka nawar? And you do know that most shiites are descended from arab tribes who settlled lebanon in phases some came directly from arabia, others came from syria and iraq where they lived after leaving arabia, others are of kurdish families who converted to shiism. Your insulting your own by writing or thinking such things. Shiites in sour and the south didnt exactly originate there (only few did and they used to be muslim or christian before converting to shiism). Others lived in sour, the south, dahyi, balback long before shiites arrived and before shiites became a majority by not always so noble ways. Its a shame that one has to bring up the past but if you post things like that, you should expect it.
22 August 2013, 00:13
00
Where there is a terrorist, there is a way, specially when there are two terrorist pinned against each other. I feel sorry for the people who are stuck in this vicious cycle. I hope those who do not prescribe to the point of view of insane and criminal way of practicing religion, have a chance to get out of that miserable place and get a fresh start. Party of god, Wahabi, Muslim Bros. Yeh right, you've ruined the Country, and I thinking that you truly don't give a rat's behind about Lebanon being your sacred home which you have sold.
