Local Editor
The Lebanese army said in a statement Tuesday that the twin-bomb attack near the Iranian embassy in the Jnah area south of Beirut was carried out by two suicide bombers who blew themselves up with a simple time lag."The first suicide bomber was walking in the place normally and then suddenly approached the main gate at the entrance to the Iranian embassy and blew himself up in an attempt to open the gate and make way for the second bomber to enter," Al-Manar correspondent stated.
Immediately after the first blast, the second bomber - driving a four-wheel drive of GMC type - moved towards the embassy with a view to storm it.He collided with a small water-distribution white truck which was in the place accidently and stopped after the first explosion.
Feeling confused after the first blast, the truck driver escaped the place leaving his vehicle parked near the embassy gate.
The second bomber could not progress over.
Embassy guards fired at him once they recognized his presence, but he blew himself up just meters from the outer wall of the embassy, which was only slightly damaged.Security experts believed that the attack didn't aim mainly at detonating the embassy gate by the suicide bomber underlined in the Lebanese army statement, but rather at using the GMC car which has failed to storm the embassy building.
A twin-bomb suicide attack took place in southern Lebanese city of Beirut Tuesday morning, leaving 23 people martyred and 147 others injured.
Al-Qaeda affiliated Abdullah al-Azzam Brigade terrorist group claimed responsibility over the attack in a statement.
Source: Al-Manar Website | 19-11-2013 - 19:37 Last updated 19-11-2013 - 19:37 |
Iranian Ambassador: Zionist Entity and Its Agents Behind Beirut Attack |
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The terrorist attack against the Iranian embassy  in Beirut which killed and wounded dozens of people was widely condemned, as Iran considered that the Israelis and their mercenaries are responsible for the crime.The Iranian President Sheikh Hassan Rouhani called the his ambassador to Lebanon checking the detailed conditions of the blasts and expressing solidarity with the Lebanese. Rouhani also received a phone call from the Lebanese president Michel Sleiman who offered him condolences for the martyrs of Beirut twin blasts. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham strongly condemned the attack as "an inhuman action", and said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran takes the Zionists and their mercenaries responsible for this action." Afkham said since the attack targeted an area in the vicinity of the Iranian Embassy compound in Beirut, Tehran will pursue the incident. Syria also strongly condemned a double bomb blast outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut. "The Syrian government firmly condemns the terrorist attack carried out near the Iranian embassy in Beirut," state television said. UK Foreign Minister William Hague condemned the twin bombings that erupted near the Iranian embassy in Beirut on Tuesday, offering his condolences to the families of the victims. France also condemned the attack, with its presidency voicing its support for the Lebanese government “in order to protect national unity.” Lebanese Wide Condemnations House Speaker, Nabih Berri, said the twin blasts in Bir Hassan region aimed against the Iranian Embassy which has always been seeking to unify Lebanon and Lebanese and anchor national security and stability, especially that conspirators behind the blasts wanted to augment division between Lebanese. Berri condemned and deplored the twin blasts that jolted Tuesday morning Bir Hassan region, wishing the injured people a speedy recovery. The House Speaker cabled Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian Revolution, offering him his condolences on the death of Sheikh Ibrahim Ansari, the Iranian Cultural Advisor at the Iranian Embassy, who was killed in the blast. Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the blast, describing it as "a cowardly terrorist act." "The aim of the blast is to stir-up the situation in Lebanon and use the Lebanese arena to convey messages," Mikati confirmed. Prime Minister-designate, Tammam Salam, condemned the explosion, describing it as "a terrorist crime which would aim to strike stability and national unity." Salam said that the best response to the owners of the evil schemes would be patience and to bridge all the gaps in the national unity wall. Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad on Tuesday said that the criminal explosion was a terrorist act replicating the well known Zionist pattern of hostility. "The aim is to carry on carnage, sabotage, fomenting chaos, menacing national unity, and sapping stability. It is a scheme to which the western-Israeli coalition abides to and which interests intertwine with those of regional regimes and Takfiri groups," the Head of Hezbollah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc said in a statement. Mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, on Tuesday condemned and deplored the twin blasts, saying that such explosions aim to flare up local strife in Lebanon, notably between Shiites and Sunnis. Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn expressed strong disapproval of the two blasts that targeted Bir Hassan's Iranian Embassy. Marada movement leader, MP Sleiman Frangiyeh, denounced on Tuesday Beirut twin blasts, saying this terrorist act bore a clear message to the Resistance's path and to Lebanon's civil peace. The head of Phalange party Amine Gemayel spoke out against the two explosions and called for an immediate national position to rescue the country from the "clutches of this merciless and hellish plot against Lebanon." Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun considered that the blasts were carried out by the desperate mad who are giving samples of what may happen in case they took over the authority. Progressive Socialist Party MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday expressed strong disapproval of the explosions. Other political parties an figures expressed their strong condemnation for the blasts and considered it as a terrorist scheme that targets Lebanon and the region. | ||||
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