This jihad attack probably has to do with the Sunni-Shi’ite jihad, which is now raging in Iraq and Syria. It is practically inevitable that it engulf Lebanon as well, with that nation’s Christians caught in the middle.
“Suicide attack at Beirut hotel, casualties feared,” Al Arabiya, June 25, 2014:
A suicide bomber attacked a hotel in the Lebanese capital of Beirut Wednesday, an Al Arabiya correspondent said, and media reports said at least one person was killed in the blast.
The explosion occurred on the fourth floor of a hotel in the district of Raouche along the Beirut coast during a raid on the building by the country’s General Security force.
Several members of the security forces were wounded during the ongoing raids, which have so far led to the apprehension of at least three individuals.
Ambulances could be heard rushing to the scene of the blast, the third in less than one week. Meanwhile, local media has reported that people are still trapped in the hotel despite a raging fire.
Lebanese Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh said “we are coordination with Lebanese security forces to get into the hotel.”
There is a heavy security presence from the airport road leading to the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hezbollah’s stronghold.
Reuters news agency quoted local security sources as saying at least one person was killed.
The explosion comes only two days after a suicide bomber killed a General Security sergeant in the Beirut suburb of Tayyouneh.
The recent string of attacks is expected to negatively affect Lebanon’s tourism sector, which has been battered by the crisis in neighboring Syria. The most recent explosion comes only days after the UAE issued a travel warning to its citizens against traveling to Lebanon.