(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A car bomb rocked south Beirut yesterday, injuring at least 53 people in the most serious incident in the stronghold of Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah movement since the start of the Syrian conflict.
The blast comes amid spiralling tension in Lebanon over the civil war raging in Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have joined President Bashar Al Assad's forces in facing down a revolt by mainly Sunni rebels.
The attack took place in a zone monitored closely by Hezbollah. "A car bomb exploded near a commercial cooperative called the Islamic Cooperation Centre in Bir Al Abed," which lies in the heart of Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold, the military source said.
Lebanon's Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said 53 people were wounded, adding that 12 remained in hospital and two had undergone surgery.
The densely populated Bir Al Abed neighbourhood is home mainly to Shias. Several broadcasters, among them Hezbollah's Al-Manar, showed firefighters battling several blazes while large clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky. A witness said the explosion was "huge".
"Everyone started panicking. Everyone was running left and right" after the blast, said Carole Mansour, who owns a shoe shop near the affected area.
"The smoke was so (thick)," Mansour said, adding that Hezbollah members dressed in civilian clothing were quick to deploy around the site of the blast. "I started following the sounds of the screams of people. My employees ran to the site to try to see what was happening because they have relatives there," she added.
"I can't believe someone would do this on the first day of Ramadan," said Mansour.
Some Shias started their fasting yesterday, although other Shias and Sunnis will begin fasting either today or tomorrow.
Lebanese politicians from across the spectrum quickly condemned the blast, including President Michel Sleiman who called for an end "to such tactics... and respect for the security of all Lebanese citizens."
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed the blast as "bringing to mind some of the blackest periods of Lebanon's history."
Former prime minister and opposition leader Saad Hariri, much of whose Sunni constituency in Lebanon backs the Syrian uprising and has been angered by Hezbollah's intervention, warned that the country must "avoid sliding into wars that will only mean more division for Lebanon".
Officially neutral in Syria's conflict, Lebanon is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Assad camps. Hezbollah and its allies back Assad, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster. In an indication of the extent of the political divisions, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel was attacked by Hezbollah supporters as he arrived at the scene.
Hezbollah officials then fired live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters, who were apparently opposed to the visit by Charbel, a member of Lebanon's anti-Assad camp.
Elsewhere, five children were injured when a bomblet exploded in Wadi Khaled, which lies in northern Lebanon on the Syrian border, a security source said.
The source said the children were playing in their school playground when the device exploded, adding that the bomblet had likely been found by one of the children and taken to the school grounds.
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