Lebanon army defuses car bomb in Bekaa

The Lebanese army has successfully dismantled a vehicle loaded with a major load of explosives in the Bekaa Valley, security sources said.

Lebanon’s security officials said the car, which was rigged with some 400 kilograms (250 pounds) of explosive materials, was found abandoned on the main road between the towns of Younin and Maqna in the Bekaa Valley at dawn on Friday.

The Lebanese network al-Manar reported that two mortar shells and TNT fingers were also found in the explosive-laden Buick.

According to reports, security forces cordoned off the area, while bomb experts defused the explosives, ahead of the celebrations to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence from France’s colonial rule.

The Lebanese media also said the army soldiers had earlier spotted the suspect car and exchanged fire with its passenger while chasing it, but the car managed to get away.

The incident took place three days after at least 23 people, including Iran’s cultural attaché to Beirut Hojjatoleslam Ebrahim Ansari, were killed and more than 140 injured in two explosions that struck near the Iranian Embassy in the southern neighborhood of Janah in the Lebanese capital on November 19.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman Suleiman, for his part, condemned the terrorist attacks and said Beirut would make its utmost efforts to identify and bring to justice those behind the bombings.