Lebanon under terror threat amid tight security

Despite the security reports obtained on Friday on possible terrorist acts on Lebanese territories, a suicide bomber managed to blow up his bomb laden car near an Internal Security Forces (ISF) checkpoint in the Bekaa 's Dahr Al Baidar region, leaving two people killed and at least 34 others injured.
The National News Agency (NNA) said that the security forces were chasing a booby-trapped vehicle before the bombing took place.
Head of the operations at the Lebanese Red Cross George Kattaneh urged citizens not to enter the area, confirming that the attack targeted the ISF checkpoint in the area.
The LBCI said that one of the killed and six of the wounded are members of the ISF.
Director General of Lebanon's General Security Major General Abbas Ibrahim has survived the suicide attack as he had crossed the explosion scene in Dahr Al-Baidar minutes before the suicide bomber blew himself in the bomb laden car.
It was unknown whether the bombing was an assassination attempt against General Ibrahim.
The Military Prosecutor Judge Sakr who inspected the site of the explosion estimated that the bomb weighs about 20 kilograms of highly explosive materials and asserted that it was a suicide attack.
According to NNA, Sakr refused to confirm whether the attack targeted General Abbas, saying "we will wait for the investigation results."
Earlier on Friday, a unit of the intelligence branch of ISF and another unit of the General Security raided a hotel in Makdessi Street in Beirut's Hamra neighborhood in search of wanted suspects.
The operation was carried out in light of information obtained by the Intelligence Bureau on the presence of a number of suspects in the hotel.
Media reports said the raid targeted Napoleon Hotel.
The LBCI News reported that the unit apprehended a group of 12 terrorists inside the hotel.
The security measures adopted by the Lebanese authority included closing main roads in the capital city of Beirut and erecting checkpoints in different parts of the city.
Army units cut off the road at Abou Ali roundabout in Tripoli, leading to Akkar district while the Internal Security Forces set up several barriers in the northern port city and army members deployed in the vicinity of mosques.
Many Lebanese officials have linked the recent security threats with the developments in Irak and the Syrian crisis which both indicate a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites, and consider that Lebanon would not be far from being dragged into this war.