Three bombs planted under a car exploded south of Beirut on Saturday, wounding two people in an attack that apparently targeted an official from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the state-run news agency said.| Then it wasn't some clever Israeli gadget in an arms depot. Interesting. Why would a Hamas official call on Hizb'allah, one is forced to wonder. |
But Lebanese security officials told The Associated Press they could not independently confirm what caused the blasts or who the explosions targeted. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which controls the area, sealed off the streets in the southern suburb of Haret Hreik and prevented journalists from getting close to the scene.
One senior police official said the blast occurred in a neighborhood that houses an office belonging to Hamas.
| Wait -- Hamas has an office there? But aren't the two H's supposed to be operating independently, with completely separate objectives and areas of operation? |
A Hezbollah official contacted by The Associated Press declined to comment, saying he had no information.
Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, was not available for comment Saturday. A person who answered his mobile phone aid he was not available and that he had no information on the explosion.
The explosion comes on the even of Ashoura, Shiite Islam's most important religious holiday.
| But of no interest, one would think, to the Sunni Hamas. |