Nine Killed in Northern Lebanon Cafe Bombing; Govt Blames ISIS

Nusra Front Claims Responsibility for Attack

A double suicide bombing at a cafe in the Alawite neighborhood of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli killed at least nine people and wounded 37 this weekend.

Tripoli has been a target of a lot of spillover violence from the Syrian Civil War, as the city has a significant Alawite population, the same sect as Syrian President Bashar Assad, which is often targeted.

Al-Qaeda’s Syria faction Jabhat al-Nusra claimed credit for the attack, though the Lebanese Interior Ministry said they don’t believe them, and accused ISIS of carrying it out.

Analysts warned they fear this is just the latest of a new wave of attacks across Lebanon aimed at distracting the Lebanese military from securing the border against infilatration.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.