Blast in Beirut Sparks Fears Of 'Iraqization' of Lebanon
For the second time in just over a month, a major bomb attack has hit Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Circles close to Hezbollah have not ruled out the possibility that a suicide bomber was behind the blast that struck Beirut's southern suburbs Thursday afternoon [Aug. 15]. They maintain the possibility that it was a suicide bomber who blew himself up in a car bomb, the Iraqi way. This augurs in a new phase of heated developments in Lebanon, which some have predicted for a while, based on several indicators.
This latest explosion was the second of its kind in just more than a month. On July 9, a car bomb exploded in a densely populated neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, the majority of whose residents are Shiite. The two incidents, however, differ in the size of the blast and the number of victims. While the first bombing only resulted in a few injuries, the second explosion was very large and resulted in dozens of casualties. There are reports of about 20 dead as of the time of this writing.
It's worth noting that after the first explosion in July, partisan and civil authorities implemented strict preventative measures in Beirut's southern suburbs, including banning unidentified cars from parking on the side of the road in this area. Furthermore, civil groups distributed forms to the area's residents, requesting a comprehensive survey of the residents and their cars — including the type of car and license plate number — which would help them to monitor any strange, unidentified or suspicious car.
In the weeks that followed the first explosion, citizens traveling through the southern suburbs and surrounding areas noticed the presence of a number of youth equipped with wireless communications devices at each entrance to the region. They were constantly present, monitoring passing cars and occasionally stopping cars to check the identities of the passengers if anything seemed suspicious.
