At least five people were killed when a car
bomb destroyed a bus carrying soldiers in northern Lebanon Monday, killing at
least five people and wounding 35 in the second attack on the Lebanese Army in
less than two months, dpa reported.
Lebanese army sources in the area confirmed that four soldiers were among the
dead in the attack that hit the Bahsas region in the northern city of Tripoli on the last day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Northern Lebanon was hit by a similar explosion in August when 15 people were
killed at a bus stop, including 10 soldiers.
Security forces investigating the blast said the September blast was stronger
than the August one.
"Once again a treacherous hand has reached out to strike at the military
establishment in a terrorist attack clearly aimed at undermining efforts at
peace and stability," a Lebanese Army communique said.
"I was in my shop when the explosion took place this morning. I am still
in shock and I cannot hear properly from the sound of the blast," a shop
vendor near the site of the explosion said.
The bomb, packed with nuts and bolts, was placed under a parked French-made
Renault car belonging to a Lebanese soldier.
The police believe that the device was detonated by remote control.
It blew up as the bus headed towards the capital Beirut at 7:45 am during the
morning rush-hour.
There were about 24 soldiers on board, most of them from the village of Akroum, located about 50 kilometres north of Tripoli near the Syrian border.
The blast hurled the remains of the explosive-laden car several metres,
shattered the windows of nearby buildings and damaged several other vehicles.
"There is no doubt that the explosion was directly targeting the Lebanese
military institution," former prime minister Najib Mikati, a Tripoli politician, said.
The Lebanese Army has been the target of deadly explosions since its forces
crushed al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim militants Fatah al-Islam during 15 weeks of
fighting at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared located at the
outskirts of Tripoli.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country dominated Lebanon for three
decades until 2005, warned earlier this month of a danger from what he called
foreign-backed Sunni extremists in Tripoli - a predominantly Sunni Muslim city.
"Tripoli is full of such groups, and they have increased their presence in
the area in recent weeks," Member of Parliament for Tripoli Mosbah
al-Ahdab said.
The Tripoli bombing followed what Syrian authorities said was an attack by an
Islamist suicide bomber in Damascus on Saturday in which 17 people were killed.
Syria's state news agency SANA said Monday the vehicle that blew up near a
security complex on the airport highway had crossed into the country from a
neighboring Arab state.
Syria's Arab neighbors are Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
No group has claimed responsibility, but Tripoli has been the scene of clashes
between pro-government Sunni fighters and pro-Syrian gunmen of the Alawite Shiite
sect.
Monday's explosion came as Lebanon's rival factions have been working toward
resolving their differences following an 18-month political crisis that brought
the country to the brink of civil war in May.
Kamel Wazzani, a political analyst, believes that Lebanon and Syria's blasts were carried out by Muslim fundamentalists who are linked to al-Qaeda and are fleeing
Iraq.
"There is a large number of militants who are coming into Syria and Lebanon, and both countries are paying the price for what is happening in Iraq," Wazzani said.
Tripoli's blast coincided with reports that Syrian troops were building
fortifications in a area which is considered Lebanese territory near the Syrian
border with Lebanon.
The reports said Syrian troops were digging long trenches between Rachaya and
Haqel Ashty in the Kfarkouq area.
Syrian troops have remained in the area despite the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in April 2005.
The reports also said Syrian soldiers were preventing Lebanese shepherds from
approaching the area.
Political sources told the anti-Syrian al-Mustaqbel newspaper that Syria was trying to occupy Lebanese territory in the border region prior to the completion
of the demarcation process.
This would be in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
and Syrian commitments to the international community to withdraw all its
troops from Lebanon.
Following the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005,
which Syria was widely blamed for, Damascus, under local and international
pressure, ended its 30-year-long military presence in Lebanon.
There was no official comment from Syria on the reports, but Lebanese Army
sources said forces were heading to the area to investigate the reports.
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