Lebanon bomb kills 15 in attack on army
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At least 15 people - including nine soldiers - were killed in Lebanon overnight in the deadliest attack on the army since a battle with Al Qaeda-inspired militants last year, security sources said.
An army statement described the attack in the northern city of Tripoli as a "terrorist bombing" - a phrase used in the past by the military when it suspects militant Islamist involvement.
It said the bomb had been placed in a bag at a bus stop where soldiers usually gather.
Another 45 people were wounded. Four were in a critical condition, medical sources said.
Red Cross workers ferried casualties to hospital. The ground was spattered with blood and covered in shards of glass.
"It seems that the bomb was detonated wirelessly by remote," Lebanon's police chief Ashraf Reefi said.
Security sources had earlier put the death toll at 18.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack in Lebanon's second largest city, which has been the scene of fighting between security forces and Islamist militants and sectarian violence linked to political tension in Lebanon.
"The army and security forces will not yield to attempts to terrorise them with attacks and crimes," President Michel Suleiman, who was army chief until elected president in May, said.
Mr Suleiman led the army during 15 weeks of fighting last year with the Al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam group, which was based at a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli.
The army lost 170 soldiers while putting down the insurrection.
"It could be a signal from the same jihadi groups that they are still around," head of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Centre in Beirut, Paul Salem said.
"It's a pretty clear signal to the army."
The Tripoli attack was the latest jolt to stability in Lebanon, which has suffered a wave of bombings and political killings since the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
The list of assassinated figures includes Francois al-Hajj, a senior army officer blown up in December.
The Tripoli attack was the deadliest internal bombing since Hariri's assassination.
- Reuters
