Deadly car bomb strikes eastern Lebanon

Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra claims responsibility for the attack that killed four people.

The Jabhat al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in eastern Lebanon that killed at least four people. The bombing on Saturday is the fourth time this year that a Hezbollah stronghold has been hit. The Red Cross confirmed the casualties to Al Jazeera after the explosion near a petrol station in Hermel. The caretaker interior minister also confirmed the number of victims. "At least four people were killed and more than 15 wounded, two or three of them in critical condition," Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station. "We think it is a suicide attack," he added. Hermel, which is close to the Syrian border, is a Hezbollah stronghold. There was an earlier blast, on January 16, outside the town's main government administration building that left three people dead. A security source told the news agency AFP that the explosion on Saturday led to a fire that hindered the arrival of emergency services. Manar TV reported a suicide bomber had been in a Grand Cherokee.

Source: AFP