Bomb in northern Lebanese city kills 18
spyguy
Posts: 613
simply disgusting...confusing though, they say it targets the army but the bomb was on a bus on a crowed street with people going to work. nice.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon - A bomb ripped through a bus during Wednesday morning rush hour in a northern Lebanese city, killing 18 soldiers and civilians, security officials said, raising fears that an al-Qaida-inspired militant group is stepping up revenge attacks against the military.
The bombing was Lebanon's deadliest in more than three years, hitting a main Tripoli street crowded with people heading to work. The bus was left riddled with shrapnel, its windows blown out, as soldiers and bystanders carried away the dozens of bleeding wounded in the glass-strewn street.
It was the first significant bombing in Lebanon in months and comes as the country is making moves to put three years of back-to-back crises behind it.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman was heading to Syria later Wednesday in the first visit there by a Lebanese president since 2005, aimed at patching up troubled ties between the neighboring countries. A day earlier, parliament approved a long-awaited national unity government between the Western-backed factions of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah.
Some officials said the Tripoli bombing may have been the work of al-Qaida-inspired militants seeking revenge for the military's assault last year on their bastion in a nearby Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr el-Bared. Hundreds were killed in the monthslong battle that ended with the militant Fatah Islam group fleeing the camp.
Since then, Fatah Islam has claimed responsibility for several small attacks on soldiers, including a May 31 bomb blast that killed a soldier in Abdeh, near Tripoli. Fatah Islam's leader, Shaker al-Absi, has vowed to "hunt down the followers of Gen. Michel Suleiman," who was the army commander during the Nahr el-Bared battle.
The army described the blast as a "terrorist attack targeting the army directly."
Security officials said 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed, while 46 people were wounded. A senior military officer told The Associated Press that at least 13 people were killed, including 11 soldiers. The discrepancy in figures could not immediately be explained. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080813/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_explosion
TRIPOLI, Lebanon - A bomb ripped through a bus during Wednesday morning rush hour in a northern Lebanese city, killing 18 soldiers and civilians, security officials said, raising fears that an al-Qaida-inspired militant group is stepping up revenge attacks against the military.
The bombing was Lebanon's deadliest in more than three years, hitting a main Tripoli street crowded with people heading to work. The bus was left riddled with shrapnel, its windows blown out, as soldiers and bystanders carried away the dozens of bleeding wounded in the glass-strewn street.
It was the first significant bombing in Lebanon in months and comes as the country is making moves to put three years of back-to-back crises behind it.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman was heading to Syria later Wednesday in the first visit there by a Lebanese president since 2005, aimed at patching up troubled ties between the neighboring countries. A day earlier, parliament approved a long-awaited national unity government between the Western-backed factions of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah.
Some officials said the Tripoli bombing may have been the work of al-Qaida-inspired militants seeking revenge for the military's assault last year on their bastion in a nearby Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr el-Bared. Hundreds were killed in the monthslong battle that ended with the militant Fatah Islam group fleeing the camp.
Since then, Fatah Islam has claimed responsibility for several small attacks on soldiers, including a May 31 bomb blast that killed a soldier in Abdeh, near Tripoli. Fatah Islam's leader, Shaker al-Absi, has vowed to "hunt down the followers of Gen. Michel Suleiman," who was the army commander during the Nahr el-Bared battle.
The army described the blast as a "terrorist attack targeting the army directly."
Security officials said 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed, while 46 people were wounded. A senior military officer told The Associated Press that at least 13 people were killed, including 11 soldiers. The discrepancy in figures could not immediately be explained. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080813/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_explosion
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