Qaida linked group claims suicide attack in Beirut's suburb

An al-Qaida linked group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that hit the southern suburb of Lebanon's capital Beirut on Monday, saying it is targeting a checkpoint of the Shiite movement Hezbollah, local Daily Star reported Tuesday. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt onboard a passenger van in the coastal town of Shoueifat, south of Beirut on Monday, killing himself and wounding at least two people. The al-Qaida linked group, known as the "Al Nusra Front in Lebanon," claimed on its twitter account that the attack targeted a passenger van "at a checkpoint manned by Hezbollah in Shoueifat. " The group said that it would "continue its attacks against the Iran party in Lebanon until it withdraws its fighters from Syria." Meanwhile, Lebanon's caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, in a televised interview, blamed what is happening in Lebanon to " the war in Syria." He called on the citizens to coordinate with the security apparatuses and remain vigilant, pointing out that a number of stolen cars were sold recently to terrorists who booby trapped them. During the past six months, about 500 cars were stolen across the country, he said. The Monday attack came two days after a suicide car bomb rocked a gas station in Lebanon's northeastern city of Hermel, killing three people.