Lebanon: Car bomb kills 4 in Lebanon's Hermel

Lebanon: A suspected suicide car bombing killed at least four people and wounded 42 others in a bustling neighborhood in the northeastern town of Hermel Thursday, a security source told The Daily Star.

The blast occurred during the morning rush hour near the town’s government building as people made their way to work in the residential and commercial neighborhood of Hermel, a town near the northern border with Syria and where Hezbollah enjoys broad support.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told The Daily Star evidence pointed strongly that the deadly attack in the commercial Square of Sabreh Hamadeh was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Charbel also said that four people among the wounded were in critical condition.

The security source said the remains of a man were pulled out from the car used in the 9 a.m. explosion, suggesting the attack was likely the work of a suicide bomber.

Plumes of smoke covered Hermel's skyline as television footage showed the wreckage of the suspected vehicle and the damage nearby.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion as local residents helped firefighters put out the fire from the car bomb, the latest in a series of explosions in the country that have been mostly linked to the crisis in neighboring Syria.

Hermel has been the target of rocket attacks which were claimed by Syrian rebel groups in retaliation to Hezbollah’s military involvement in Syria.

In December, an explosives-laden vehicle was detonated near a Hezbollah post in northeastern Lebanon killing at least two of the group’s fighters.

Earlier this month, a suicide car bombing ripped through the neighborhood of Haret Hreik in the capital’s southern suburbs, a Beirut area where Hezbollah has strong support.

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for the Haret Hreik bombing, vowing more attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.