Bomb blast kills 2 in Beirut

Source: channel6online

BEIRUT (BNO NEWS) -- Two people were killed and another was injured on Thursday after a blast ripped through a parking lot in a suburb of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

The explosion occurred in a parking lot near a gas station in the Antelias district at around 11.30 a.m. local time, killing two people and injuring a bystander. According to security sources, the two men who died in the explosion had been in possession of the explosive device at the time of its detonation.

The two men were identified as Ihsan Ali Dia and Hassan Nayef Nassar. Security sources said the attack might have been targeting a car registered to a Lebanese judge, which was parked where the blast took place, the newspaper reported.

Legislator Ibrahim Kanaan, who visited the crime scene shortly after the incident, said that the act could be a message aimed at the Lebanese state.

"Security and legal sides should be filling us in with details of this operation within hours. This act targets the peace and a secure area and maybe even targets judicial [officials]," Kanaan told reporters, as cited by The Daily Star. "I do not want to pre-empt the investigation but if it is the case then this could be a message aimed at all the Lebanese state with all its institutions and a decisive stance is needed."

Shortly after the explosion took place, security forces sealed the area and brought in bomb-sniffing dogs. An investigation into the incident is under way.