Beirut bomb: Hezbollah's Nasrallah blames Sunni radicals

Hassan Nasrallah urged his followers to pray for the wounded to recover 

 

The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, says radical Sunni Muslim militants bombed a Beirut suburb, killing 22 people.

Mr Nasrallah's Shia group supports the government of President Assad in the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
"I will go myself to Syria if it is necessary in the battle against the takfiris (Sunni radicals)," Mr Nasrallah said, on his own TV channel.
A Syrian rebel group said it carried out Thursday's bombing.

Hundreds of people were injured in the evening attack claimed by the Battalions of Ayesha in a Shia area of Beirut known to be a stronghold of Hezbollah.
Mr Nasrallah urged his followers not to react blindly to the bombing which, he said, was aimed at drawing Lebanon into Syria's conflict.
He said if the attackers' aim had been to deter Hezbollah from fighting alongside the regime in Syria, his movement would double its forces there.
The site of the blast is close to the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex, where Hezbollah often holds mass rallies.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said officials were investigating if the van believed to be carrying the explosives had been driven by a suicide bomber.
The explosion comes a month after another car bomb wounded more than 50 people in the same district of Beirut.

Forensic teams are investigating whether a suicide bomber carried out the attack

Fighters from Hezbollah were instrumental in a strategic victory by Syrian government forces in Qusair, close to the border with Lebanon, in early June.
In a video message posted online, the Battalions of Ayesha suggested they had been behind July's bomb blast. The group threatened to carry out more attacks, referring to Hezbollah strongholds as "colonies of Iran".
Events in Syria are putting Lebanon's fragile peace in jeopardy, threatening the equilibrium which has held since the end of the civil war more than 20 years ago.
Many Lebanese politicians blamed Israel in the wake of Thursday's blast, but Israeli President Shimon Peres denied culpability during a joint news conference with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"I was surprised," Mr Peres said. "Why should (they) look to Israel? (They have) a Hezbollah that collects bombs, that goes and kills people in Syria without the permission of the Lebanese government."

This is a densely populated area of Beirut