BEIRUT, Lebanon - An explosion targeted a U.S. Embassy vehicle Tuesday in northern Beirut, and there were casualties, a senior Lebanese security official said. The state-run National News Agency said at least two people were killed.
Neither NNA nor the security official gave nationalities of the casualties.
The explosion was heard across the Lebanese capital, and gray smoke billowed near the Mediterranean coast.
The security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules, told The Associated Press the explosion was in the predominantly Christian Dora-Karantina neighborhood.
He said an American vehicle was believed to be the target. There were casualties, he said, but did not elaborate.
A Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation correspondent who happened to be in the area reported seeing the charred body of at least one person killed in the blast. The station also reported a person wounded in a car belonging to the American Embassy.
Television footage showed several damaged cars, including an SUV with tinted windows, similar to those used by U.S. diplomats. Plainclothes security agents were seen removing an automatic rifle from the SUV.
In the past three years, a of explosions in Lebanon have targeted mainly anti-Syrian politicians and journalists.
The last car bombing on Dec. 12 in Beirut's suburb of Baabda killed Lebanese army Maj. Gen. Francois Hajj and two other people.
Monday
October 28th, 2024
7:22AM
