Lebanon suicide blasts kill 5

AL-QAA, Lebanon, June 27, (AFP): A string of suicide bombings killed at least five people shortly before dawn on Monday in a Lebanese village near the volatile border with warravaged Syria.

Monday’s deadly blasts struck Al-Qaa, a predominantly Christian village nestled in a hilly border area shaken by violence since Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011.

At least four suicide bombers hit the village from about 4:20 am (0120 GMT), the army said.

“The first attacker knocked on one of the homes in the village, but after the resident became suspicious, he blew himself up,” a military source told AFP.

Three other suicide attackers had detonated their own explosives as people began gathering to treat the wounded.

Security forces were seen cordoning off the site of the blasts, which lies on a main road linking the Syrian town of Al Q usa yr to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa val- ley. The road cuts through a residential area in the centre of Al-Qaa, and the explosions took place less than 100 meters (yards) from the village church.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide attacks are typically carried out by jihadist organisations like the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaa mayor Bashir Matar said two of the bombers blew themselves up “as people gathered to treat the wounded”.

“We chased the fourth attacker and shot at him, and he blew himself up,” Matar said, adding five villagers were killed.

George Kettaneh of the Lebanese Red Cross said there were “at least eight killed including three suicide bombers” and 15 wounded.

The army said four soldiers were wounded in the attacks, which the National News Agency reported took place at 10 minute intervals.

Resident Fadi Bs her rawi said he woke up when he heard the first blast, but went back to sleep thinking it was just fighting near the border.

“I really woke up to the sound of the second attack,” he told AFP.

Neighbours told him later that one Muslim resident was having a morning meal before beginning his day of fasting for Ramadan when he saw a strange group of men outside.

“He went outside to talk to them and they wanted to stir things up. So his son fired on them with a hunting rifle” before the explosions started, Bshe rra wi said.

Paramedics began to arrive after the first suicide attack.

“One rescue worker who was trying to carry a wounded man was killed when the second terrorist suicide bomber came,” he said. “We have guards all the time. The village is always ready and people are on edge.”