Army 'Asks for CCTV Footage' in Antelias in Bid to Track Robbers of Hermel Bomb Car

The owner of the booby-trapped Kia Sportage that exploded Thursday in Hermel confirmed in a TV interview that the SUV was stolen from outside his house in Antelias on November 10, 2013.

Nazrat Kasbar Shahinian told al-Jadeed television that he had immediately reported the theft to the Antelias police station around two months ago.

He confirmed that the vehicle is a black Kia Sportage that was manufactured in 2010, the thing the was also verified by the car's registration papers and the theft report.

Shahinian said he was deeply saddened by news of the deadly explosion, wishing “if only it had been sold as spare parts instead of being blown up against innocents.”

The man noted that he has received a phone call from the army's intelligence directorate, which asked him to provide it with the theft report.

He also revealed that “army intelligence has requested the footage captured by security cameras in the area from which the car was stolen, in a bid to identify the culprits.”

On Thursday morning, a car bombing targeted the eastern town of Hermel, a Hizbullah stronghold, killing at least three people and wounding more than 26.

Reports said the bombing was caused by a suicide bomber after witnesses saw human remains in the mangled car.

Al-Jadeed reported that the driver was wearing a suicide belt and that the car was loaded with explosives.