Middle East
Lebanon detains 7 Syrian, 2 Lebanese terror suspects
Stars and Stripes
November 15, 2015
Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk holds a press conference at the police headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. Machnouk says authorities are holding seven Syrians and two Lebanese who were involved in planning terrorist attacks or smuggling extremists into the country. (Bilal Hussein/AP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon has detained seven Syrians and two Lebanese suspected of involvement in planning terrorist attacks, including a twin bombing last week, and smuggling extremists into the country.
Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk announced the arrests Sunday, three days after a twin suicide attack in a southern Beirut suburb killed 43 people and wounded more than 200.
Machnouk says the attackers were planning to strike the Rasoul al-Aazm hospital, which is run by the militant Hezbollah group, but changed their minds because of tight security.
He says they instead targeted a busy street near the hospital during rush hour on Thursday evening. Machnouk says the attack was to involve five suicide bombers, but one was detained and two did not enter Lebanon.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.