Lebanon’s Interior Minister Warns of More Islamic State Attacks

Critics of the site accused it of valuing the lives of Western victims more than those in the Middle East and other regions, a charge disputed by others, who said there are other factors at play.

The attacks, which Islamic State (IS) have claimed responsibility for, have been described as an “act of war” by French President Francois Hollande.

Paris calls out to us because many of us have been there or wish to go.

Even as the world woke up to the terror that stuck the City Of Love – Paris and the aftermath, there is a sense of guilt at not giving enough notice to the suicide bombings that took place earlier on the same day in Lebanese capital of Beirut.

American celebrity Angelina Jolie, known for her humanitarian efforts and advocacy on behalf of refugees as a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), focused attention yesterday on Thursday’s ISIS attack on Beirut. CNN hasn’t confirmed the authenticity of that claim.

Why would ISIS target Lebanon?

The civil war in neighboring Syria has killed 250,000 people since 2011.

Then there’s the sectarian issue.

The Sunni extremist group considers members of the sect, as well as others who stray from its interpretation of Islam, to be apostates.

Who were the suicide bombers?

Lebanon has not released their identities.

But Thursday’s was the largest IS attack ever in Lebanon, and among the deadliest bombings to hit the volatile country in decades.

Lebanese security forces said that two men wearing suicide vests blew themselves up within minutes of each other, one outside a Shia mosque and community center, and the other inside a nearby bakery.

A father, with his young daughter watching, sacrificed himself to save others when terrorists struck Beirut last week.

The minister said the Syrians were arrested from a Palestinian refugee camp in Burj al-Barajneh, and that they had used an apartment in the eastern Ashrafieh district to prepare explosive belts.

Has Lebanon been targeted before? It is suspected that the ISIS attack in Beirut was retaliation for Hezbollah’s ongoing effort to fight the Islamic State in Syria. Forty-three people were killed, a lot of them passersby, and 240 were injured (according to Al-Jazeera, quoting the Lebanese ministry of health).

What does this mean for Lebanon?

Political divisions and ideological tensions in Lebanon date to several decades, Khouri said. Mostefai had been flagged as radical Islamist, but had not been linked to terrorism thus far.