Car bomb rocks Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon
Mohammed Jamjoom and Yasmin Amer, CNN
Huge explosion rocks southern Beirut
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: 18 killed, 291 wounded, state news says
- The army says a car bomb caused the blast
- An unknown group claims responsibility in a YouTube video
- The area is a Hezbollah stronghold
Eighteen people were killed and 291 were wounded, the Lebanese national news agency NNA reported.
Video shown on
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV showed fierce flames engulfing several cars in
the Beirut suburb. Thick, black smoke rose from the vehicles; a nearby
building also appeared to be on fire. Ambulances were rushing to the
site of the blast, NNA reported.
"Army units arrived
immediately at the scene, enforcing a security zone within the area of
explosion while military experts initiated investigations under the
concerned judiciary's surveillance," the army said.
July: Massive car bomb in Beirut
After the blast, a
YouTube video surfaced in which three masked men holding weapons claimed
they are part of a group responsible for the attack. They stood before a
large Arabic sign containing the Islamic creed, "There is no God but
Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah."
The group, which calls
itself "The brigade of Aisha, Mother of Believers," accused Hezbollah of
being aggressors. Aisha is the last wife of the Prophet Muhammad and is
especially revered by Sunni Muslims.
In its YouTube post, the group called Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a "pig" and said he works on behalf of Iran and Israel.
"A message: To our
brothers and sisters in Lebanon: Stay away from anything to do with Iran
-- whether in Beirut or outside Beirut," it said.
Hezbollah is a Shiite
movement in Lebanon. Along with Shiite-dominated Iran, the group is
helping Syria's government fight rebels, whose ranks are dominated by
Sunnis.
CNN could not confirm
the authenticity of the video or the men's claims. The U.S. Embassy in
Beirut tweeted condemnations of the attack.
Civil Defense units were
trying to rescue some citizens stuck inside their homes due to the fire
resulting from the blast, NNA reported.
The explosion comes about a month after a car bomb injured dozens of people in the pro-Hezbollah neighborhood of Bir El Abed, located in a southern Beirut suburb.
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