Beirut gets first taste of Syria warMay 27, 2013 12:54 AMBy Jana El-Hassan
| The Daily Star |
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| Residents inspect the remains of one of two rockets that hit Shiyah Sunday. (The Daily Star/Mohammad Azakir) |
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BEIRUT: Lebanese officials condemned a rocket attack Sunday into the capital’s southern suburbs and decried it as an “act of sabotage,” one day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah admitted heavy involvement of his party in Syria’s civil war.
The two rockets slammed into the suburb of Shiyah, wounding four people. one of the rockets hit a car dealership located near Mar Mikhael church, while the other landed in the close-by neighborhood of Maroun Misk.
Witnesses said the second rocket hit the balcony of a residential building in the Shiyah area shortly before 7 a.m.
Separately, two rockets fired from Syria landed in the Bekaa Valley’s Hermel region – a Hezbollah stronghold – without leaving any casualties, security sources said.
The wounded in Shiyah, all Syrian workers, had been sleeping at the dealership when the rocket struck. The four were rushed to Mount Lebanon Hospital for treatment.
Security sources said 107-mm rockets were used in the rare attacks on the southern suburb of Beirut, where Hezbollah maintains its offices.
The incident came 12 hours after Nasrallah vowed to defend the Syrian regime, which he described as “the backbone and supporter of the resistance” and promised that his group would continue fighting until it emerged victorious.
Hours after the incident, the Lebanese Army managed to identify the launch site.
In a statement, the Army said it found two launchpads between the villages of Bsaba and Aitat, in Mount Lebanon, which lies southeast of the Beirut suburb. Security forces were also searching for a third rocket that was launched between Baabda and Aitat but had failed to explode.
It was not immediately clear who fired the rockets that targeted the two locations in Shiyah, which was cordoned off by the Army almost immediately after the incident.
Asked whether the Free Syrian Army might have been involved, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said it was too early to make any accusations. “This is a mere speculation,” Charbel said.
For its part, the FSA denied any involvement in the attack.
“We have nothing to do with the attacks and we issued an official statement denying any involvement in any such act,” FSA spokesman Louay Mekdad told The Daily Star. Meanwhile, the NNA said Military Tribunal Judge Saqr Saqr tasked the Military Police with conducting preliminary investigations to identify the source of the rocket attacks.
Lebanese officials were united in condemning the incident as an act of sabotage intended to destabilize the country.
“President Michel Sleiman denounced the launching of the two rockets on the southern suburbs this morning, describing those behind the incident as terrorist saboteurs who do not want peace and stability for Lebanon or the Lebanese,” a statement from his office said.
Lebanon’s caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said the incident was “an attempt to tamper with stability and security.”
“What is certain is that the [rocket attacks] were an attempt to create splits among the Lebanese ranks and drag the [Syrian] strife to Lebanon,” he said, according to the NNA.
Charbel, who also described the incident as an “act of sabotage,” said he feared for Lebanon given the crisis in neighboring Syria.
“I hope what is happening in Syria will not happen in Lebanon,” he told reporters at the scene of one of the rocket attacks.
A spate of security incidents linked to the crisis in Syria has further spread instability in the country and a fiery speech made by Nasrallah over the weekend has increased speculation in the country that the crisis in Syria has begun to spill over into Lebanon.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri described the attacks on the southern suburb as an “act of terror” during a telephone conversation with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
“We condemn this criminal, terrorist act and whoever was behind and planned it, particularly that it targeted a residential area,” he said, according to a statement from his office.
The statement said Hariri, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, discussed the early morning rocket attacks with Berri.
“We thank God that the casualties’ numbers were limited and that wounded Syrian workers are being treated,” Hariri said in the statement.
For its part, France condemned the rocket attack, reiterating that it was crucial to stop the Syrian unrest from spilling into to Lebanon.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Abu Dhabi, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France “very strongly condemns” the incident in Beirut.
The foreign minister also stressed it was crucial to “avoid the war in Syria becoming a war in Lebanon.”
The morning rocket attacks shook many of the city’s residents.
Abu Ali Kobeissi, the owner of the car dealership damaged in one of the attacks, said there was a clear link between the incident in Shiyah and Nasrallah’s speech a day earlier.
“This is a message, a reply to Nasrallah,” Kobeissi told reporters.
“Just as Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah vowed victory, we will not be frightened by them,” he said. “Whatever they do, we are not afraid and long live Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.”
Nasrallah revealed Saturday the large-scale involvement of his party in the war in neighboring Syria, and said his party aimed to protect the resistance group from extremist elements within the rebel forces.
During his one-hour speech, Nasrallah also urged that Lebanon be spared any armed confrontation that could spill over from Syria.
“We are fighting in Syria, you are fighting in Syria, let us continue to fight there,” he said. “Put Lebanon aside.”
Shortly after the news broke on the rocket attacks on Beirut, Kuwait issued a travel advisory to its nationals in Lebanon, calling on them to avoid traveling to Lebanon and leave the country as soon as possible.
“Because of the unstable situation in Lebanon and the possible consequences, the Foreign Ministry urges citizens to exercise caution and abandon travel plans to Lebanon at present,” the Kuwaiti National News Agency said Sunday.
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(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)