42 Killed and 500 Wounded in Two Explosions at Tripoli Mosques
The death toll from twin car bombings Friday in the northern port city of Tripoli rose to 42, a security source said, in the bloodiest attack since the 1975-1990 civil war.
"The death toll has risen to 42 in Tripoli," the source told Agence France Presse.
The Lebanese Red Cross said earlier there were at least 29 dead, and 500 wounded, with director Georges Kettaneh saying many of those injured were in serious condition with burns and head wounds.
Two explosions took place as worshipers were filing out after weekly prayers.
The first blast rocked the city center near the home of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, although his office said he was not in Tripoli at the time.
The second struck near the port of the restive city, close to the home of former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, a security source said.
Local television channels aired footage of the dead, of buildings with their fronts blown in and vehicles ablaze, as bystanders rushed to help the wounded.
Tripoli has been marred by deadly violence between Sunnis, who support the armed uprising in neighboring Syria, and Alawites who support President Bashar Assad.
The explosions come a week after a suicide car bombing killed 27 people in a Beirut Hizbullah stronghold.
On Wednesday, army chief General Jean Qahwaji said his forces were fighting a "total war" against terrorism whose aim is "to provoke sectarian strife" in the country.
He said the army had been pursuing a "terrorist cell that prepares car bombs and sends them to residential neighborhoods."
He said "the gravity... lies in the fact that this cell is not targeting any one region or community in particular, but that it aims to provoke sectarian strife by targeting different regions," said Qahwaji.
A Lebanese and two Palestinians suspected of preparing a car bomb attack were arrested days after the latest blast in Beirut, the General Security agency said.
They were accused of planning to plant a car laden with 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of explosives in the Naameh area, also in southern Beirut, the agency added.
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