By NNN-KUNA,
Kuwait : At least six people died and several others suffered injuries in a fiery blast that targeted a bus boarding Lebanese Army troops in northern Lebanon early on Monday, according to Lebanese media monitored in Kuwait.
The Lebanese television station, NBN, that broadcast live pictures from the scene, said the fiery blast in a suburban district of the northern city of Tripoli, killed at least six people, including three army troops, and wounded 24 others.
The NBN said the blast was caused by a bomb laden into a a Renault car, that was parked on side of a road in the populated region.
The explosion ripped through a 24-seat bus that was passing by with military troops on board.
The television station said the bomb-laden car was hurled many meters away due to the power of the blast.
Army troops sealed off the scene of the explosion that also damaged nearby buildings and scores of cars. The ground was littered with shreds of metal and pools of blood
The blast occurred in the Buhsas district south of the heart of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city.
Six weeks ago, the city witnessed an identical bomb attack that took the lives of 15 people including 10 army soldiers.
The ancient coastal city has recently witnessed armed fighting pitting local militias.
The Lebanese Army, nearly a year ago, engaged in a ferocious fighting against Islamic militants who were entrenched in the refugee camp of Nahr Al-Bared just north of the city.
The army crushed the militants in the summer-long fighting, and officials declared that the authorities foiled a plot by the extremists to establish a self-styled “Islamic emirate.”
The militants were said to have been headed by Shaker Al-Absi, a notorious shadowy activist, with criminal records in some Arab countries. The gunmen were believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda that repeatedly made threats against the Lebanese authorities.