Hezbollah condemned a suicide attack that killed three Lebanese soldiers in the Beqaa Valley area of Hermel, a Hezbollah stronghold, calling on rival Lebanese parties not to justify such attacks, and warning against the threat of terror.
“The new crime is a proof that the terrorist (approach) is not looking for pretexts or reasons to conduct its crimes,” NOW Lebanon quoted a statement issued by Hezbollah.
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“Terrorism is a threat to all Lebanese of all religions and sects. It is a threat even to those who try to justify its crimes and pretend that they are reactions to other actions,” the statement added.
On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Lebanese Armed Forces checkpoint at the entrance of Beqaa’s Hermel, killing three people, including two soldiers, and injuring more than ten others.
A suicide bomber killed two Lebanese soldiers and a civilian with a car bomb at an army checkpoint in a Hezbollah stronghold in northeast Lebanon on Saturday, security sources said.
The Nusra Front in Lebanon – an al-Qaeda affiliated Sunni terrorist group named after one of the factions fighting against President Bashar Assad in Syria – said it carried out the attack, in a statement posted on Twitter and a website used by militant groups.
The attack at the entrance to the city of Hermel also injured several people.
Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, the highest-ranking Sunni Muslim in the administration, condemned Saturday's attack as an act of terrorism. He called for "solidarity in confronting terrorism in all its forms".
An army general, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists, had no immediate word on casualties from the blast at the entrance of the town of Hermel.
The bombing was the latest in a string of attacks targeting Hezbollah-affiliated areas. Two car bombs exploded in a southern suburb of Beirut on Wednesday, killing 11 people.
NOW Lebanon reports that Hermel had already been targeted with car bombs twice before, on January 16 and on February 1. Both attacks were claimed by the Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon.