BEIRUT: Preliminary information suggests that ISIS was behind Saturday’s twin suicide bombing that left nine people dead in Tripoli, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday.
“Preliminary information indicates that ISIS is behind the explosion,” Machnouk said during a press conference held after a security meeting in Tripoli Sunday, despite Nusra claiming responsibility for the attack which also wounded 30.
“These operations are neither separate nor discontinuous and the suicide bombers are members of [ISIS],” he added.
The Lebanese Army identified the two attackers as Taha Samir al-Khayal, 22, and Bilal Mohammad al-Mariyan, 29. Both were Lebanese.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted the Omran cafe in the majority Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen Saturday in online posting.
"A suicide operation targeted a cafe [belonging to] the Alawite Arab Democratic Party," the Nusra Front said on its social media pages, in reference to Jabal Mohsen's dominant group the ADP.
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 President Bashar Assad, while Bab al-Tabbaneh’s residents largely support the rebels fighting to oust him.
According to Machnouk, the suicide bombers “might” have been tied to Monzer al-Hasan - a militants suspected to have been tied 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 explosive belts and material to a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out major attacks in Lebanon. Hasan is also suspected of being the main supplier of a Saudi suicide bomber who blew himself up in Beirut’s Duroy Hotel in June.
Machnouk also noted that he was contacted by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri who pledged to pay for the rehabilitation of the area damaged in Saturday’s explosions.
“This generous and patriotic move from Hariri serves to turn the page of the past and to move forward towards national consensus and support for the state,” Machnouk, who belongs to Hariri’s Future Movement, said.
Head of the Higher Relief Commission Maj. Gen. Mohammad Khair visited the site of the attack Sunday, saying he hoped the incident would be the last of its kind for Lebanon.
He also pledged support for the families of those killed and wounded.
Saturday's suicide bombings came hours after Lebanon’s judiciary issued a new arrest warrant against the the leader of the ADP after he did not show up for a hearing Saturday.
The judiciary had withdrawn the previous arrest warrant, issued in February 2014 against former MP Ali Eid, last week, after he had fled to Syria and remained on the run with his son Rifaat since last June.
Eid has been charged with aiding a suspect in a twin bombing that targeted the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli, killing 47 people and wounded dozens of others.
Eid and his son fled to Syria when the Lebanese Army imposed a security plan in Tripoli.
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