Strict Security Measures in Dahr al-Baydar amid Reports of 'Beirut-Bound Bomb-Laden Car'

The army on Sunday took strict security measures at its checkpoint in Dahr al-Baydar, especially on the lane leading to Beirut, over reports about a bomb-laden car, state-run National News Agency reported.

The measures “created a traffic jam in the vicinity of the checkpoint, which reached as far as al-Mreijat,” NNA said.

Al-Jadeed television also reported that “the Dahr al-Baydar-Beirut road is witnessing a severe traffic jam, especially at the army's checkpoint in al-Namliyeh, after reports said a booby-trapped car had moved from the Bekaa.”

The Traffic Management Center announced on its Twitter account that the traffic jam was created by “strict measures at the checkpoints of security forces.”

Meanwhile, a security source denied to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that a booby-trapped car was headed from the Bekaa to Beirut.

“The strict security measures at the army's checkpoints were taken in light of the security situation in the country,” the source noted.

On Saturday, a suicide car bombing rocked the Bekaa town of Hermel, leaving three people dead and 28 others injured. The attack was claimed by a group calling itself al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, an apparent offshoot of the Syria-based extremist group.

Several cars that were used in previous bombings in Lebanon had reportedly entered the country from the Syrian rebel strongholds of al-Qalamoun and Yabrud.