Car bombing in Beirut kills four, injures dozens
Beirut (AsiaNews/ Agencies) - A car bomb exploded in Beirut this afternoon (2 pm local time) near Sassine Square, in the predominantly Christian district of Ashrafiya (north-east of the city). At least four people have been killed and dozens injured.
Lebanese news agencies have shown pictures of panicked residents fleeing the area, where the blast ripped through some buildings. Rescue operations were almost immediate.
The last car bombing in the cities dates back to 2008 when a US diplomatic vehicle was blown up, killing three.
It is unclear if anyone important was targeted, but the incident comes at a time of maximum tensions between Lebanon and Syria.
In northern Lebanese cities like Tripoli, fighting has broken out between Sunnis and Shias, reflecting the divide in Syria between where Sunnis rose against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Today's attack is also the first since Benedict XVI visited Lebanon last month, a country the pontiff praised as a model of ethnic and religious coexistence for the region and the world.
It comes a few days before a Vatican delegation led by Mgr Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States, travels to Syria.
Yesterday, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Hizbollah, the extremist Shia movement, was "more a threat to Lebanon than to Israel, because Israel is capable of defending itself".
The statement follows Hizbollah's acknowledgement that it sent a drone against Israel that was eventually shot down over the Negev Desert.
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