Mysterious Explosion in Beirut”s Southern Suburbs Kills 3
At least three people were killed and six wounded in a mysterious overnight explosion that shook Beirut”s southern suburbs amid reports it has targeted Hamas headquarters.
An-Nahar daily on Sunday said Hizbullah members immediately cordoned off the area, preventing journalists and Lebanese security forces from approaching the scene.
It said preliminary reports indicated that the explosion occurred while Hamas members were trying to defuse an explosive device planted in a car that was parked opposite the old building that housed Hizbullah”s al-Manar TV on the main road between Haret Hreik and Bir Abed.
The newspaper quoted Hizbullah sources as saying the blast targeted Hamas headquarters and not Hizbullah.
The cause of the explosion which took place before midnight Saturday has not yet been determined. The blast came as Hizbullah was organizing a mourning ceremony to mark Ashoura.
State-run National News Agency said the blast could have been aimed at a member of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Lebanon.
The blast was "the result of three bombs placed under a car whose owner is said to be a member of Hamas," the agency said.
But in a terse report, quoting unnamed security officials, Manar television said the "blast took place in an office of the Hamas movement causing casualties." It did not give further details.
Hamas spokesman Raafat Murra told AFP that the Palestinian Islamic movement has an office in the area where the blast occurred but could not immediately say if there were casualties among members of the group.
Asharq radio station said the blast occurred in Haret Hreik, not far away from a community center where Hizbullah was organizing a ceremony to commemorate Ashoura.
While rumors had it that Hamas chief in Lebanon Ousama Hamdan and second-in-command Ali Barake were hurt in the explosion, Hamas sources denied the report.
An-Nahar said Barake was reportedly in southern Lebanon at the time of the blast.
The blast came on the eve of the first anniversary of Israel”s 22-day offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip during which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
Shiites in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon wrap up on Sunday the annual 10-day Ashoura rituals which commemorate the killing of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid in 680.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has called on Lebanon”s Shiites to take part massively in Sunday”s ceremony which will include a huge march across the southern suburbs.