One killed, several wounded in an explosion near Choueifat’s Richani...

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One person was killed and several were wounded in an explosion in Choueifat’s Richani gas station on Monday evening.

Lebanese television footage showed the chassis of a vehicle with no roof. Smoke rose in the air and debris lay on a street. Body parts, including a head, were on the road.

The target of the attack was not immediately clear.

Preliminary information said that the explosion was the result of a booby trapped car, noting that human remains were found in and around the vehicle.

Sources told LBCI that the vehicle was identified as a Hyundai minibus with a valid red license plate, which is designated for public transportation, adding that the explosive belt detonated by the suicide bomber weighed 5 KG.

Lebanese Red Cross Operations Director George Kettaneh told LBCI that security forces are conducting preliminary investigations at the crime scene, reiterating that one person was killed and two were found injured in the wake of the explosion so far.

The driver of the minibus, identified a Hussein Msheik was severely wounded and transported to Kamal Jumblatt Hospital.

For his part, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that the suicide bomber was the only one killed when he blew himself up inside the minibus, where one passenger was on board.

Charbel noted that the bomber may have boarded the vehicle in an attempt to reach the Beirut Southern Suburbs where security measures are difficult to trespass, leading the terrorist to have to recourse to the “suicide bombings planned location.”

The Interior Minister said that preliminary investigations based on the accounts of the minibus' driver allude to the suicide bomber's anxiety upon the driver's suspicion of his intentions - leading him to prematurely detonate the explosive belt he had been wearing.

Subsequently, the Health Ministry called on hospitals to receive all wounded persons and provide them with the necessary treatment.

State Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Saqr Saqr tasked security apparatuses to investigate the Choueifat explosion, tasking a medical examiner with conducting DNA tests to reveal identity of the attacker.

There have been a series of bomb attacks in southern Beirut in recent weeks.

Reactions:

The head of the Lebanese Democratic Party MP Talal Erslan told LBCI that “terrorism seeks to destabilize the situation in the country,” pointing out that the political class is responsible for the latest events taking place in several regions and that “security chaos is the reflection of political chaos.”

For his part, Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun said the bomb attacks are the result of an evil plot, adding that "precautionary measures must be taken to minimize impact on the country."

Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar said that terrorism can be faced by exerting pressure on the countries that support it, calling on all officials to end provocative and sectarian rhetoric and to hasten the formation of the cabinet.

Wave of violence:

Lebanon has been witnessing a wave of terrorist attacks against Hezbollah strongholds, resulting in casualties and heavy material losses.

The latest attack took place on the 1st of February at a petrol station near the al-Mabarrat school at the entrance of Hermel town.

The state-run news agency cited witnesses as saying that the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber who entered the gas station and detonated the bomb, leaving three killed.

Similarly, on January 16, a car bomb exploded near a local government building in the aforementioned town, also leaving three civilians killed and at least 40 others.

Jabhat al-Nusra in Lebanon had claimed responsibility for both attacks.

On the 21st of January, Jabhat al Nusra's Lebanon branch also claimed responsibility for an explosion that rocked Beirut's southern suburbs region of Haret Hreik, a stronghold of the Shiite movement Hezbollah, killing 4 persons and wounding more than 40, official sources said.

A statement released via twitter said the attack comes in retaliation of the Arsal incident in which 9 civilians were killed when a rocket fell into the northeastern Lebanese border town Friday, January 17.

Early January, a powerful explosion shook southern Beirut, killing at least 4 people and injuring over 77 others. The explosion took place in al-Arid Street in Haret Hreik near Jawad restaurant only meters away from Hezbollah's political council, sources said.

Similarly, a double suicide attack targeted on Tuesday, November 19 the Iranian embassy in south Beirut’s Bir Hassan region, killing at least 23 people, wounding 146 and damaging buildings in the embassy compound.

The Abdullah Azzam brigades, a Lebanon-based al-Qaeda affiliate, said it was behind a double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy.

A powerful car bomb tore through the Beirut Southern Suburbs' region of Roueis, a stronghold of Hezbollah on Thursday the 15th of August, claiming the lives of 27 civilians and leaving more than 289 wounded, some of whom are still receiving treatment.

In July, a similar attack also took place, setting several cars on fire and causing an estimated 53 injuries, security officials said. The powerful blast came as many among Lebanon's Shiites began observing the holy month of Ramadan, and is the worst explosion to hit the area in years as a direct fallout of the civil war raging in neighboring Syria.

The blast was caused by a car bomb in a parking lot nearby the Al-Hussein Bin Ali technical school. Sources then told LBCI the vehicle carrying the explosives, which weight 35 kilograms, was identified as a Nissan SUV.