{"id":3494,"date":"2014-03-31T06:33:17","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T06:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3494"},"modified":"2014-03-31T06:33:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T06:33:17","slug":"car-bomb-targets-lebanon-army-near-syria-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/03\/31\/3494\/","title":{"rendered":"Car bomb targets Lebanon army near Syria border"},"content":{"rendered":"

suicide bomber in an explosives-laden car targeted a Lebanese army checkpoint near the Syrian border on Saturday evening, killing three soldiers, the Lebanese military said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The attack near the eastern border town of Arsal came after forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad routed rebels from two Syrian villages lying just across the border.<\/span>
The bombing demonstrated how far the war in neighboring Syria has sucked in its fragile neighbor, igniting violent sectarian tensions between Sunni extremists in Lebanon against the country\u2019s Shi\u2019ites, and ensnaring even the military.<\/span>
Sunni extremists have accused Lebanon\u2019s military of being partial to their rivals, the Shi\u2019ite group Hezbollah, whose fighters are waging war in Syria alongside Assad\u2019s forces.<\/span>
The bomb killed three soldiers and wounded another four, a military statement said. Military helicopters rushed to rescue the wounded from the rugged mountainous area, said the army statement.<\/span>
The Ahrar Al-Sunna in Baalbek Brigade, an extremist Sunni group, claimed responsibility for the bombing.<\/span>
The group described the attack as a \u201cheroic operation that targeted the crusader army in Arsal\u201d in a message posted on Twitter.<\/span>
The group said the bombing was to avenge the Lebanese army killing of a suspected militant during an arrest raid on Thursday, and for Hezbollah\u2019s participation in the Syrian conflict.<\/span>
The Shi\u2019ite group \u201cshould not think it will not be punished for killing innocents in Syria,\u201d one message read. \u201cAs long as Sunnis in Lebanon are targeted, be assured we will respond,\u201d said another.<\/span>
The bombing shook windows in the town of Arsal, less than a mile (one kilometer) away, said deputy mayor Ahmad Fliti.<\/span>
\u201cPeople rushed outside to see what was happening, but the military closed off the area,\u201d he said.<\/span>
Following the bombing, a woman and child were killed by Lebanese soldiers who opened fire on their vehicle after the drive did not stop at another Arsal checkpoint, Lebanon\u2019s state news said.<\/span>
The bombing came after assailants killed two Lebanese soldiers in the northern town of Tripoli last week, and tried to kill a third. <\/span>
There have been raging clashes between two Tripoli neighborhoods, in fighting linked to the Syrian war.<\/span>
At least 11 Lebanese soldiers have been killed in similar attacks since December, including Saturday\u2019s incident, according to an Associated Press count.<\/span>
Attacks against the army are seen as shocking in Lebanon, where the military is viewed as the sole institution that represents, and unifies, the country\u2019s squabbling sects. Despite hard-line Sunni anger against the army, Sunnis make up at least one-third of all military personnel.<\/span>
Dozens more Lebanese civilians have been killed in bombings that have targeted mostly Shi\u2019ite areas since last summer, also in retaliation for Hezbollah fighting in Syria.<\/span>
The Iranian-backed Shi\u2019ite group began waging war alongside Assad\u2019s forces last year, allowing Syrian forces to regain swaths of territory lost to armed rebels since the uprising began three years ago.<\/span>
Hours before the bombing, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would remain in Syria for now.<\/span>
Speaking at a cultural event in south Lebanon, the black-turbaned cleric said Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon were defending Syria and their own country from the scourge of extremist Sunni groups.<\/span>
\u201cWe have taken on this burden and are continuing with it,\u201d Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast from a secret location.<\/span>
On Saturday, they captured two villages near the border with Lebanon on Saturday, continuing a weeks-long advance that has cut a major supply route for weapons and fighters into the country from eastern Lebanon, said activists and state TV.<\/span>
The villages of Flita and Ras Maara were the latest targets of a government offensive in the rugged Qalamoun border region after troops captured the town of Yabroud earlier this month.<\/span>
Flita lies about 5 miles (7 kilometers) from the border town of Arsal.<\/span>
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed Syrian forces backed by fighters of the Shi\u2019ite Lebanese group Hezbollah seized the villages.<\/span>
Earlier, Lebanon\u2019s state-run National News Agency said about 700 Syrians had fled the fighting to nearby Arsal.<\/span>
Lebanese soldiers were checking people\u2019s identity cards to make sure no fighters were among them, it said.<\/span>
An activist in a nearby area who uses the name of Abu Yazan Al-Shami said rebels expected Assad-loyal forces to try to seize the town of Rankous next, allowing the government \u201cto completely cut supplies from Lebanon into Qalamoun.\u201d<\/span>
The Syrian Observatory said by Saturday evening, government forces were attacking the outskirts of Rankous.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Asharq Al-Awsat<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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suicide bomber in an explosives-laden car targeted a Lebanese army checkpoint near the Syrian border on Saturday evening, killing three soldiers, the Lebanese military said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCar bomb targets Lebanon army near Syria border - SunniOnline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/03\/31\/3494\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Car bomb targets Lebanon army near Syria border - 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