Report: Terrorist Plot to Ignite Shiite-Sunni Strife in Dahiye

The bombings claimed by the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades aimed at provoking Shiites residing in Beirut's southern suburbs against the Sunnis in the area, the al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday.

Detained top Qaida-linked militant Naim Abbas confessed that the Shiites were expected to have a bloody reaction against the Sunnis in Dahiyeh.

However, the scheme failed after Hizbullah restrained from carrying out any counter reaction or targeting Sunni areas with explosive-laden vehicles to retaliate the bombings targeting its strongholds.

Abbas, according to the daily, said that a group monitoring Hizbullah's bastions noticed that the party increased the security measures in Haret Hreik, Rweis and Bir al-Abed, however, the measures in al-Shiyyah were less.

The report continues that the minimal security measures in Shiyyah prompted the leadership of Abdullah Azzam Brigades to set a plan to target the area with suicide attacks to evoke Shiites against Sunnis and prompt them to target areas like Tariq al-Jadideh, which is mainly a Sunni neighborhood.

Earlier in February, the army announced the arrest of top militant Naim Abbas, one of the leaders of the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades. Following his interrogation, he told the army about two car rigged with explosives which were dismantled in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa district and the Bekaa area of al-Labweh.

A string of car and suicide bomb attacks have targeted Hizbullah strongholds in Lebanon in recent months, killing dozens of civilians.

The latest attack targeted the Iranian Cultural Center in Bir al-Hassan neighborhood, killing 11 people and wounding more than 100.

The attack was quickly claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades that previously claimed a double suicide bombing aimed at Iran's embassy in Beirut.