24-04-2024 03:59 PM Jerusalem Timing

ISIL-Affiliated Terrorist Group Claims Beirut Bombing

ISIL-Affiliated Terrorist Group Claims Beirut Bombing

A Saudi suicide bomber who blew himself up during a raid by Lebanese security forces was a member of the so-called ’Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’ terrorist group.

Lebanon: ISIL statementA Saudi suicide bomber who blew himself up during a raid by Lebanese security forces was a member of the so-called 'Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant' terrorist group, according to a statement published on Friday that Lebanese security officials said they were taking seriously.

"Two lions of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who infiltrated the city of Beirut at the Duroy Hotel, engaged a group from the General Security service," the statement said.

The group calling itself the state of Damascus-Qalamoun said via twitter that two ISIL members targeted General Security agents at the hotel in Raouche.

It warned the Lebanese army of more terrorist attacks, saying Wednesday's bombing was just the start.

Three members of the security forces were wounded when they stormed Beirut's Duroy Hotel on Wednesday and the Saudi suspect detonated his explosives, killing himself and wounding an accomplice, also a Saudi citizen, who survived the blast and is being questioned at hospital.

The General Security agency on Thursday circulated the picture of a Lebanese man, al-Monzer Khaldoun al-Hasan, accused of providing the Duroy Hotel bombers with explosives.

Media reports have said they were plotting to target a busy restaurant in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The announcement came three days after a statement in the name of the al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades terrorist group which - without directly claiming responsibility for two bombings on Friday and Monday - warned of further attacks against targets in Lebanon.

It was the third bomb blast in five days in Lebanon.

The Lebanese army said on Wednesday five members of a "terrorist cell" suspected of planning to kill senior security officers had been arrested in the north of the country, and a French national was detained last week on suspicion of planning an attack.