Syria War Spillover: Beirut Car Bomb Wounds 53

A car bomb detonated in the Dahiyeh suburb of the Lebanese capital city of Beirut today, wounding at least 53 people and causing heavy damage across the area. A number of the casualties were children.

There has been no claim of responsibility yet, but an attack in an overwhelmingly Shi’ite neighborhood with a strong Hezbollah presence has many concerned that the attack is spillover from the Syrian Civil War.

Syrian rebel factions, including Jabhat al-Nusra, have favored bombing attacks, and several have promised to attack Hezbollah in retaliation for the Shi’ite militia’s close ties to the Assad government.

The attack also coincided with the first day of the religiously important month of Ramadan, which adds credence to the concerns that it is sectarian spillover from Syria.