Report: Dahr al-Baydar Explosives-Rigged Vehicle Prepared in Arsal

The gray Nissan Murano used in the bombing that targeted last week an Internal Security Forces checkpoint in the eastern town of Dahr al-Baydar was reportedly rigged with explosives in the eastern border town of Arsal, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily said that the army intelligence is investigating if any illegal border crossings between the Syrian town of al-Qalamoun and Arsal are still accessible or if the car was prepared with explosives in Arsal.

It reported that the analysis of the telecom data indicates that the suicide bomber driving the Murano planned to target a high-ranking official in the attack.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim had driven past the site of the explosion in his convoy shortly before the blast.

According to the report, another booby-trapped vehicle was spotted in the area of Sawfar before it disappeared.

The suicide attack killed one person and wounded 30 others.

Early Tuesday another suicide blast in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hizbullah's main bastion, killed a security officer and wounded 20.

No one has claimed the attack, but an audio recording posted on YouTube by Abdullah Azzam Brigades said there would be more "strikes" if Hizbullah does not pull out of Syria.

The Abdullah Azzam brigades is an al-Qaida-linked group that has previously claimed responsibility for other Syria-related violence in Lebanon.

The last explosion to hit Lebanon occurred on March 29.

Earlier in the year, a series of car bombs struck Shiite areas across Lebanon, killing and wounding hundreds of people.

Hard-line Sunni groups have claimed responsibility for those killings, saying they are meant to punish Hizbullah for supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad.

H.K.

G.K.