Twin suicide blasts in Beirut's Shiite suburb kills 37, 181 wounded
BEIRUT (AP) — Twin suicide bombing struck a Shiite suburb in southern Beirut on Thursday evening, killing at least 37 people and wounding hundreds more in one of the deadliest attacks in years, a Lebanese official said.
The explosions hit minutes apart in an area called Burj al-Barajneh during rush hour. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings.
Southern Beirut is a stronghold of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group that is fighting in Syria along with government forces there. The area has been hit in the past. Sunni militant groups have threatened to carry out more such attacks.
Along with the 37 killed, attack also left more than 181 wounded, George Kittaneh, head of the Lebanese Red Cross operations, told state-run National News Agency.
According to a Lebanese security official, the first suicide attacker detonated his explosives' vest outside a Shiite mosque, while the second blew himself up inside a nearby bakery.
An apparent third suicide attacker was found dead, his legs blown off while he still wore an intact explosives' belt, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The official speculated the third may have been killed from the explosion of the second suicide attacker, as he was reportedly close to that blast.
The Al-Mayadeen TV also reported there was a third would-be suicide attacker, describing him as a bearded young man who wore an explosives' belt. The report said he was killed before he was able to detonate the explosives.