Eight suicide bombers have attacked a Lebanese
Christian village, killing five people and wounding dozens more, in the latest
violent spillover of the five-year-old Syrian war into Lebanon.
Security
sources said they believed Islamic State was responsible for the bombings in
the village of Qaa on Lebanon's border with Syria on Monday, but there was no
immediate claim of responsibility.
A
first wave of attacks involved four suicide bombers who struck after 4am (1100
AEST), killing five people, all civilians.
The
first bomber blew himself up after being confronted by a resident, with the
other three detonating their bombs one after the other as people arrived at the
scene.
The
Lebanese army said four soldiers were among the wounded.
A
second series of attacks, involving at least four bombers, took place in the
evening as residents were preparing the funerals of those killed earlier.
Two
of the four bombers blew themselves up outside a church, security sources said.
Nobody
was killed. Medics put the number of injured at 15.
"It
is clear from the pace of explosions that we have entered an episode from
hell," Wael Abu Faour, the health minister, told Reuters.
In
comments to local media, the head of the Qaa local council urged residents to
stay at home and shoot anyone suspicious.
The
provincial governor meanwhile imposed a curfew on Syrian refugees in the area.
Lebanese
security services have been on heightened alert for militant attacks in recent
weeks. Islamic State had urged its followers to launch attacks on
"non-believers" during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began
in early June.
Lebanon
has been repeatedly jolted by militant attacks linked to the war in
neighbouring Syria, where the powerful Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah is
fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah on Friday warned of a threat posed by militants based in the border
area between Syria and Lebanon, saying they were still preparing car bombs in
the area.
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