Lebanese Ex-Minister: Tripoli Blasts Aimed at Creating Sectarian Rift


Lebanese Ex-Minister: Tripoli Blasts Aimed at Creating Sectarian Rift

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A former Lebanese defense minister condemned the terrorist attack in a neighborhood of the country's northern city of Tripoli, which killed nine people late on Saturday, saying that the attack was aimed at creating “sectarian sedition”.

“It was regrettable incident, firstly, for the number of people died in it, and, secondly, for the sensitivity of the venue and timing of the attack," Abdul Rahim Mourad said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.

"The place of the explosion belongs to a certain tribe and the bombers were related to another tribe, which indicates that the attack has been carried out with the aim of creating sectarian sedition,” the former minister explained.

He added that the Lebanese army had previously thwarted such plots through defeating terrorist groups in the region.

In a terrorist attack on a cafe in Jabal Mohsen Alawite neighborhood of Tripoli late on Saturday, nine people were killed and 37 others wounded.

Later, Al-Qaeda's Syria branch, the Al-Nusra Front, claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter.

Lebanese security forces believe the bombers lived in Mankubeen, a majority Sunni neighborhood just 500 meters (yards) away from Jabal Mohsen.

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