Terrorist Blast Rocks Hermel: At Least 2 LA Soldiers, Civilian Martyred

Local Editor

2 Lebanese Army forces were martyred and acivilian were martyred while several others were wounded in a massive suicide car explosion at an army checkpoint in the Bekaa town of Hermel.

The suicide car blast ripped through the checkpoint which lies at the entrance of Hermel, and at which cars are routinely stopped and searched by army troops.

"A suicide blast took place near al-Assi bridge area at the entrance of Hermel," the state-run National News Agency reported.

It further mentioned that blast martyred two troops, among them an army officer, and wounded five others while other 10 civilians were also injured in the bombing."

"One victim's body and 14 wounded were transferred to three hospitals in the region," the news agency said.

Media reports mentioned among the wounded were three army recruits and two other civilians.

"The wounded recruits are Imad Mahmoud Abou Zeid, Hassan Ali Jaafar and Elie Shhade Rizk while the civilians are Khodr Abu Bakr and his wife Rita."

On the moment of the explosion, the information "When army troops asked the driver to turn the lights on inside the car, he refused to do so and then detonated the vehicle."

Media reports also said the checkpoint was not the target.

"The suicide bomber, who was driving a Grand Cherokee, detonated the bomb after soldiers grew suspicious of him at a military checkpoint set up at the entrance of Hermel, a security source said."

They elaborated that "the attacker was heading towards Hermel and when army forces at the checkpoint found him suspicious, he then detonated the booby-trapped car."

Minister of Public Health Wael Abou Faour urged all hospitals in the region to admit those that were wounded in the blast.

It noted that the checkpoint where the car exploded belongs to the border regiment which mission is deploying on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Following the blast, the municipality of the Bekaa town urged citizens to stay away from the site of the explosion.

Meanwhile, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr tasked police forces with cordoning off the site of the explosion and gather all found information and clues about the car and the bomber.

He also tasked forensic doctors with collecting humans remains and carry out the necessary DNA testing.

It was the second such attack in Lebanon this week following Wednesday's bombings near the Iranian Cultural Center just south of Beirut.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team