[PHOTOS] Two LAF members killed in car bomb attack targeting Hermel entrance

Several were killed and injured in an explosion that targeted a Lebanese Armed Forces checkpoint in the area of Jisr al-Aassi at the entrance of the Bekaa town of Hermel, security sources reported on Saturday evening.

Preliminary information said that two LAF soldiers were killed, while at least 15 people, including LAF soldiers and two civilians were injured.

The LAF members who were injured were identified as Hussein Ali Jaafar, Elie Chehade Rizk and Imad Abou Zeid, while the wounded civilians were identified as Khodor Abou Baker and his wife Rita Abou Baker.

Security sources said that the explosion was caused by a car bomb, adding that the suicide bomber detonated himself after LAF members reied to search his car. The sources noted that the explosive-laden vehicle was heading to the town of Hermel, was not planning on carrying out the attack at the checkpoint.

The sources said that the booby-trapped car is a Jeep Cherokee and a Mercedes ML was directly behind it.

Later, al-Nusra Front in Lebanon claimed responsibility for the attack.

Civil Defense and Red Cross teams rushed to the scene and are working on transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals.

For his part, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour called on the hospitals in the region of Hermel to open their doors and receive all casualties to provide them with the necessary treatment.

Meanwhile, State Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Saqr Saqr tasked the military police to set up a security cordon around the explosion site in Hermel, to launch investigations and to collect evidence and information concerning the booby-trapped car. He also called on the forensic doctor to collect the body parts found at the scene and conduct DNA tests.

The attack at the entrance to the city of Hermel follows a suicide bombing of the Iranian cultural center in Beirut that killed eight people on Wednesday. That attack was claimed by a radical Sunni militant group which said it carried out the bombing as a reprisal for the military involvement of Hezbollah and Iran in the war in neighboring Syria.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam denounced the explosion that hit Hermel, noting that attacking the military institution is an act that goes beyond the ordinary crime and harms an essential component of the Lebanese State.

Salam called on the Lebanese to reach agreement and to unite against all forms of terrorism, urging them to prevent the enemies from harming the country, its people and institutions.

In the international reactions, the British ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher condemned the cowardly terrorist attack that targeted LAF checkpoint in Hermel, noting that his country will help rebuild the army checkpoint by offering $500,000 of protective kit.

In turn, the US Embassy denounced the terrorist attack that targeted LAF checkpoint in Hermel, stressing that any attack on the LAF is an attack on all Lebanese.

LAF Command statement:

The Lebanese Armed Forces Command declared that a car bomb exploded at an army checkpoint in the area of Jisr al-Assi at the entrance of the northeastern town of Hermel.

The army said that the explosive-laden vehicle is a SUV and was detonated by a suicide bomber, killing and injuring a number of military personnel including an officer, as well as a number of civilians.

The army command issued a statement whereby it said that the Lebanese army has been raising its state of alert and intensifying its security measures to arrest those planning to implement terrorist attacks and to attack the military institution, in an attempt to drag Lebanon into chaos.