Three Detained in Links to Jabal Mohsen Twin Suicide Attack

The army detained on Sunday three people pending an investigation in links to the twin suicide bombing in Jabal Mohsen neighborhood in the northern coastal city of Tripoli.

According to the state-run National News Agency, the three men were detained as part of an investigation into Saturday's attack on a cafe in the flashpoint Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen.

The three have friendship links with the suicide bombers, NNA said.

Media reports identified them as Ali Kheireddine, Monzer Shamseine and Wael Afioni.

Nine people were killed and 37 others were wounded in the attack.

Al-Qaida-affilliate al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the blasts via Twitter.

“A cafe belonging to the (Alawite Arab) Democratic Party in Jabal Mohsen was targeted with a double martyrdom attack, to avenge the Sunnis in Syria and Lebanon," read the tweet.

Lebanese security forces believe the bombers lived in Mankubeen, a majority Sunni neighborhood just 500 meters away from Jabal Mohsen.

They were identified as Taha Samir al-Khayyal and Bilal Mohammed al-Meraayan.

The Arab Democratic Party is the main group representing the Alawite minority in Lebanon.

Residents of Jabal Mohsen support Syria's President Bashar Assad, who belongs to an Alawite clan, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, that has ruled the war-torn country for more than 40 years.