海角大神

A spate of suicide bombings in Lebanon and a security sweep听of听suspected extremists and militant cells听has raised fears that听the violence roiling Iraq has arrived in Lebanon.听

Three suicide bombings, two of them car bombs, since听Friday听have left two people dead and 70 wounded and听snapped a three-month听period of calm. Lebanese security sources suspect that the current wave of attacks is being directed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which is leading a Sunni offensive in northern Iraq. These sources say ISIS听may be听exploiting sleeper cells in Lebanon or sending听foreign jihadis听to Beirut to target the militant Shiite group Hezbollah, which is fighting in Syria alongside the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.听

鈥淭he Iraqi volcano is connected to the Syrian one鈥� Lebanon will not be safe or shielded from the fire of both,鈥� wrote Ali Hamadeh, a columnist with Lebanon鈥檚 An Nahar newspaper.

Recent听battlefield advances by ISIS, which seeks to build an Islamic caliphate across the Levant, have granted it a broad swathe of contiguous territory听in Iraq and Syria. The militant group is an offshoot of Al Qaeda and is known for its brutality and intolerance.听

ISIS doesn't pose the same threat to Lebanon. Its tiny size and tangled sectarian demographics as well as pervasive intelligence agencies and a听largely moderate听Sunni community work against the group gaining a significant foothold in the country. Still, militants who share ISIS's extremism exist in Lebanon听and further attacks could test the mettle of security agencies.

The latest bombing occurred听on Wednesday听evening when a suspected Saudi militant sought to evade arrest by blowing himself up in a hotel in the seafront Rawshe district of Beirut. Four security officers were wounded in the blast as well as another militant and seven civilians.

A little known group, the Free Sunnis of Baalbek, a town in Lebanon鈥檚 Bekaa Valley, claimed responsibility for the bombing.听鈥淭he victory that is being achieved by the Islamic State of Iraq against Maliki鈥檚 army is motivation for every jihadist in the world,鈥� the group said on its Twitter account.

The group, which claims a link to ISIS, said its 鈥渂lessed operations鈥� would continue to strike the militant Shiite Hezbollah and the Lebanese army.听

Bombing pipeline disrupted

Between November and the end of March, extremist groups 听staged 11 suicide bombings听in Lebanon. However, the formation of a new Lebanese government and a security crackdown led to arrests of militants and a cessation of attacks.听Another factor听was the capture by Hezbollah and Syrian troops in March and early April of听militant bases inside Syria where car bombs had been assembled and driven into Lebanon.

But as ISIS launched its stunning advance across northern Iraq earlier this month, security fears rose rapidly in Lebanon. Hezbollah obtained intelligence of militants preparing tunnel bombs beneath hospitals treating Shiite fighters wounded in Syria. The roads around several hospitals in Hezbollah鈥檚 southern Beirut stronghold were sealed off to traffic.

Last Friday, a suicide bomber exploded his vehicle at a police checkpoint in mountains east of Beirut,听killing a policeman.听On Monday听night, another suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the entrance to Beirut鈥檚 Shiite-populated southern suburbs, killing Abdul Karim Hodroj, a security officer who was attempting to apprehend the militant.

At Hodroj鈥檚 funeral听on Wednesday听in southern Beirut, militants fired听shots听in the air in a gesture of respect for the victim 鈥撎齛nd听defiance and anger toward their enemies.听As has become custom on such occasions, the gunmen directed their fire in the direction of Tariq al-Jdeide, an adjacent Sunni-populated neighborhood.

In the wake of Monday鈥檚 bombing, Sheikh Sirajeddine Zuraiqat, the spokesman for the Al-Qaeda-inspired Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, warned that Hezbollah had 鈥渂rought trouble鈥� upon itself through its 鈥渁dventures in Syria."听

鈥淲e tell the Iranian party [Hezbollah]: Your battle is not only with us anymore but rather with the Sunni community in Syria and Lebanon,鈥� he said on his Twitter account.

Fear of mass casualties

Lebanese security forces have thwarted other terror plots.听On Friday, during a raid on a Beirut hotel, a French national originally from the Comoros islands, was arrested. He later reportedly confessed to having been sent to Beirut by ISIS to prepare for a suicide operation against an as yet unspecified target.

On Wednesday, security forces arrested a five-man cell in north Lebanon that was reportedly planning to assassinate a top security official.

The tight security net and close cooperation between Lebanon鈥檚 sometimes bickering security agencies appears to have prevented any mass casualty attacks. The two suicide car bombers were unable to reach their intended targets and the听suspected听Saudi militant killed only himself in his hotel room.

鈥淭he security measures that are being taken are preventing suicide bombers from reaching their targets,鈥� Nohad Mashnouq, Lebanon鈥檚 interior minister told reporters.听

More worryingly, perhaps, is that Lebanese security forces reportedly found in the hotel a suitcase carrying 15 pounds of explosive, too little for a car bomb but enough to make suicide vests. Local residents听in Shiite neighborhoods听and sources close to Hezbollah say they are concerned at the possibility of individual militants penetrating the area wearing vest bombs and carrying rifles, which could lead to shooting attacks followed by self-detonation, similar to operations that have occurred in India and Kenya.