REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIRUT -- After almost 17 months of calm, Lebanon's capital Beirut was again the scene of suicide bombings with more casualties than the previous series of attacks.
A twin suicide bombing occurred on Thursday evening in the most popular and busy street of Burj el-Barajneh, southern suburbs of Beirut that was the heartland of Hezbollah, leaving at least 43 people killed and more than 239 injured.
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack on its Twitter account, vowing "more attacks against Hezbollah."
The southern suburbs of Beirut have been targeted by suicide bombers since July 2013 in retaliation to the engagement of Hezbollah in the Syrian crisis.
The Shiite militant party were fighting along with Syrian regime forces for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
A security source said that the attack was a direct message that spreads fears and anger, following the direct Russian involvement and the gains of the Syrian regime on the ground against the rebels, not to mention the political development in Vienna conference and the real prospects of finding a political solution to the crisis.
The source believe that the link between the Syrian and Lebanese arenas always suggest the possibility of terrorist attacks in Lebanon when any changes occur on the ground in Syria in favor of any of the feuding parties.
The source added the twin bombing could also be a message from the terrorists that despite their losses on the grounds to the regime forces, it still can play a role in defining the course of the settlement in Syria.
Some political observers asserted that the aim of the attack was to destabilize the Lebanese internal situation which is already fragile, and incite a sectarian strife among the Lebanese or between them and the Syrian refugees.
The observers said that the fragile situation in Lebanon must be an incentive for the political leaders to activate the national dialogue and agree on electing a consensual president to end the vacuum in the post, which hindered the work of the cabinet and almost paralyzed the work of the parliament.
Lebanon has been without a president since the six-year term of former President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014, and the parliament failing to convene to elect an incumbent because of lack of the constitutionally required quorum.
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