Beirut: Lebanese security forces have arrested nine people, most of them Syrian nationals, over last week’s twin bombings in Beirut that killed 44 people, the interior minister said on Sunday.
“Until now the detained include seven Syrians and two Lebanese, one of them a [would-be] suicide bomber and the other a trafficker who smuggled them across the border from Syria,” Interior Minister Nouhad Al Mashnouq said in a televised press conference.
Daesh claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks, which hit a busy shopping street in Burj Al Barajneh, a suburb where the Shiite movement Hezbollah is popular.
“The whole suicide bombing network and its supporters were arrested in the 48 hours following the explosion,” Al Mashnouq said.
He said the Syrians were detained in a Palestinian refugee camp located in Burj Al Barajneh and a flat in the capital’s eastern district of Ashrafieh that had been used to prepare the explosive belts.
The initial plan was apparently to send five suicide bombers to a hospital in the neighbourhood, he said, but heavy security forced them to change the target to a densely populated area.
During his Sunday press conference, which came a day after an address by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah — in which the latter committed himself to avenging the dead, Al Mashnouq added: “Investigations have shown that the attack was planned to take place in the Al Rasoul Al Azzam hospital with five suicide attackers, but the assailants changed their plans because of security measures,” assuring that ISF officers would remain vigilant.
Interestingly, Al Mashnouq hastened to add that all political figures ought to “take good care of Lebanon” and find solutions [for their interminable political differences].
“Lebanon is not on the international map, only Yemen and Syria are,” he said. “We must realise this fact and work on that basis to preserve the Lebanese from the criminals.”
“Political stability is the only means to achieve security in the country,” he said, adding that he hopes this achievement will pave the way for serious political dialogue.
-With inputs from agencies
