Several local leaders and politicians on Saturday were quick to condemn the latest explosion in the Bekaa town of Hermel, soon after a suicide attack claimed the life of several troops and civilians at an army checkpoint in al-Assi bridge area in the village.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam deplored the “terrorist” attacks, considering that targeting the military institution is an act against a cornerstone in the country.

Two troops were killed on Saturday and several others were wounded in a massive suicide car explosion at an army checkpoint in the Bekaa town of Hermel.

The attack was claimed by Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Saturday that the current cabinet is a temporary council of ministers that was formed to assure holding the presidential elections on time.

"Afterwards, a new government will be formed and it will be tasked with drafting an electoral law and preparing for the parliamentary polls that will take place at the end of September,” Aoun explained in an interview with Russia Today news channel.

The army on Saturday circulated the photo of a man it described as a “dangerous fugitive,” calling on whoever recognizes him to report to the military institution.

“We urge anyone who recognizes the dangerous fugitive to call the Army Command's operations center on 1701 or to report by using the military institution's smart phone application LAF Shield,” the army said in a communique.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed hope on Saturday that the “consensual atmosphere” between the political arch-foes that resulted in his cabinet's lineup would be reflected on the ministerial policy statement.

“The panel drafting the ministerial policy achieved progress in its work process,” Salam said in a statement.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale discussed on Saturday the latest developments with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea as the party's parliamentary bloc stressed the importance of adopting the Baada Declaration and Bkirki Charter as basis of the cabinet's ministerial policy statement.

According to a statement issued by the LF press office the meeting was held for an hour in Maarab in presence of Elie Khour, Geagea's adviser.

The army intelligence raided on Saturday the house of an extremist in the southern city of Sidon as a Palestinian national was shot dead in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.

The state-run National News Agency reported that the army raided the house of Mahmoud Khalaf in old Sidon town, seizing a cache of arms and grenades.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stressed that the upcoming presidential elections should be carried out within the constitutional time-frame, calling for consensus among Christian parties over the name of the presidential candidate.

“The Phalange Party reject by all means any vacuum at presidential post,” Gemayel said during an interview with the Tehran-based Arabic-language Iranian television channel al-Kawthar.

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.

The residents of the Bekaa border town of Arsal contacted several March 14 alliance officials to rebuke arrests carried out by a Hizbullah checkpoint erected on the outskirts of the village, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Saturday.

According to the newspaper, Hizbullah members detained several residents from Arsal and questioned them, which angered the residents of Arsal.