TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Rival Lebanese leaders teamed up Sunday in a show of solidarity to foil plans to incite sectarian strife by the two suicide bombers who struck in Tripoli, killing at least nine people, in the most serious breach of a government security plan that restored law and order to the violence-ravaged northern city.
Saturday night’s twin suicide bombings in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli, claimed by the Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, have raised fears of Lebanon getting drawn further into the nearly 4-year-old war in Syria.
Nusra Front issued a statement on social media Sunday evening saying the attacks came in response to the Lebanese government’s negligence in punishing those behind the bombings of the Al-Taqwa and As-Salam mosques in Tripoli last summer.
More than 30 people were also wounded in the blasts that posed a new challenge to the Lebanese Army, which crushed Islamist militants in Tripoli in October as part of its open battle against terrorism. The Army has often clashed with ISIS and Nusra Front militants who are still holding 25 soldiers and policemen hostage on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.
A military investigation has been launched to determine where the two Lebanese suicide bombers came from, who sent them and who provided them with explosives belts to blow themselves up in a crowded cafe in the Jabal Mohsen district, which in the past few years had fought deadly battles with the predominantly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood over the conflict raging in Syria.
The Lebanese Army identified the two suicide bombers as Taha Samir al-Khayal, 21, and Bilal Mohammad al-Mariyan, 29. Both were Lebanese.
Residents and witnesses said a suicide bomber detonated his vest just outside the cafe in Jabal Mohsen and after people rushed to the scene five minutes later, another man walking toward the crowd shouting “Allahu akbar” blew himself up.
Security sources said, Khayal, who hails from Tripoli’s Mankoubeen neighborhood, had returned to the area over a week ago after being absent since the October 2014 clashes in the city.
The Army Sunday arrested three suspects who were regularly seen in Tripoli with Khayal during the week before the attack.
An Army statement said the explosives belts worn by the two attackers contained about 4 kilograms of TNT. In addition to an Army force that sealed off the targeted area, a number of military experts examined the site of the bombing to determine the circumstances of the attack, it said.
In condemning the bombings, Lebanese leaders also called for national unity to prevent a new outbreak of sectarian strife in the country.
“Terrorism will not stop, neither in Lebanon nor elsewhere. Confronting it calls on us to be united,” Prime Minister Tammam Salam told visitors at his Moseitbeh residence. “The goal of the bombings is to [incite] strife among the Lebanese. But their goal will not be achieved because Lebanon will not be a safe haven for such operations.”
In another statement, Salam called on the Lebanese to stand behind the Army and security forces against terrorism. “We tell those sick minds that this crime will not terrorize the Lebanese or the Tripolitans and will not weaken the state’s determination to fight terrorism and terrorists,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri strongly condemned the terrorist “crime,” saying it was aimed at rekindling strife and destabilizing Tripoli after the Army and security forces succeeded in halting the cycle of violence in the northern city, confronting terrorist organizations and reinforcing security.
“This heinous terrorist crime requires combined efforts by all Lebanese, who should strongly support the Lebanese Army and security forces in taking the required measures to preserve security, arrest the perpetrators and all those behind them and bring them to justice,” Hariri said in a statement.
The Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted the cafe in Jabal Mohsen. “A suicide operation targeted a cafe [belonging to] the Alawite Arab Democratic Party in revenge for the Sunnis in Syria and Lebanon,” the Nusra Front said on its Twitter account.
It added that the two attackers had been trained in Syria’s Qalamoun region near the border with Lebanon and sent to Tripoli to carry out the twin attacks.
However, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk told a news conference that preliminary information suggested that ISIS was behind the attack. “These operations are neither separate nor discontinuous and the suicide bombers are members of [ISIS],” he said after chairing a security meeting in Tripoli.
Recurring violence in Tripoli took on an increasingly sectarian nature with the beginning of the war in Syria nearly four years ago. The ADP is an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Bab al-Tabbaneh’s residents largely support the rebels fighting to oust him.
Machnouk also inspected the bombing site, saying residents of Tripoli and the north were united against “extremism and takfirism.” Asked about fears of a return to bombings, he said: “As long as the fire rages on in Syria, the escalation will get worse. But with our conscientiousness, unity and the capability of security institutions, above all the Army, [we] will be able to resist [terror].”
According to Machnouk, the suicide bombers “might” have been tied to Monzer al-Hasan – a militant suspected of links to other suicide bombings in the country. Hasan was killed when security forces raided his apartment in the posh City Complex building in Tripoli last July.
Security forces had intelligence that Hasan provided explosives belts and materiel to a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out major attacks in Lebanon. Hasan was also suspected of being the main supplier of a Saudi suicide bomber who blew himself up in Beirut’s Duroy Hotel in June.
Machnouk said that he was contacted by Hariri, who pledged to pay for the rehabilitation of the area damaged in the explosions.
In condemning the bombings, Hezbollah said takfiri groups were the source of all evil. “Takfiri ideology targets all of us indiscriminately,” the party said, adding that the attack on the cafe denoted that “takfiri” groups were “bothered” by the ongoing dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement.
Washington condemned the Tripoli attack. “The United States strongly condemns yesterday’s suicide bombing at the Omran Café in the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood of Tripoli, Lebanon,” the State Department said in a statement.
The U.S. will continue its “strong support for the Lebanese security forces as they protect the Lebanese people, combat violent extremists, and preserve Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and security,” it added.
Iran also denounced the attack. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the perpetrators of the “ominous act” have targeted Lebanon’s unity, solidarity and stability.