Israel Matzav

Breaking: Bus bombed in Lebanon

A bus carrying soldiers was targeted at 7:45 Monday morning near a Lebanese army post in Bahsas in northern Lebanon. Some accounts place Bahsas in Tripoli. According to the latest reports at this writing (see headlines above the fold), five people have been killed and 17 have been wounded. On Saturday, a car bomb in Damascus killed 17 people and wounded 14. The two events may be connected: last week it was reported that Syrian troops were massed on Lebanon's northern border with Syria. This is also the second bomb in northern Lebanon targeting troops in less than two months. Eighteen soldiers and civilians were killed by a roadside bomb on August 13. AFP is now reporting six people killed (no link) and Lebanon's LBC television is reporting that the bus, which can carry up to 24 people, was thrown a long distance. More details when I have them.

UPDATE 8:54 AM

A possible target? This is from the first link above:

8:48am Voice of Lebanon radio station: Among the victims was adjutant Fouad Qadaweh who was taken to al-Haikaliya hospital.

I have no idea who Fouad Qadaweh is or what an 'adjutant' is, but he seems to be significant.

UPDATE 9:03 AM

In its infinite wisdom, Google has now decided that Naharnet.com is an 'attack site' and despite my having cleared it as an exception in Firefox, I cannot access the articles, only the headlines.

UPDATE 9:06 AM

More details:

A car bomb exploded near a military bus carrying troops to work in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing and wounding at least 15 people, Lebanese security officials said. Most of the casualties were soldiers, the officials said. The officials said the car was booby-trapped and parked on a roadside. The bomb was detonated by remote control as the military bus drove by at the southern entrance to the northern city of Tripoli. The explosion happened during morning rush hour, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Local TV showed soldiers sealing off the area and preventing people from approaching. The blast shattered windows in several cars parked in the area.

Hmmm.

UPDATE 10:24 AM

I now have raw video from Lebanese telvision (no sound) so let's go to the videotape:



Naharnet is now reporting six dead and thirty wounded.

UPDATE 10:42 AM

Here's another video - this time from CNN.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:35 AM