Twin blasts rock Lebanon's Sunni capital; at least 19 reported dead

Smoke is seen above people gathering outside a mosque on the site of a powerful explosion in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on August 23, 2013. 

At least 19 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in two explosions outside mosques in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on Friday, security sources and witnesses said. The explosions, which appeared to be coordinated, went off outside two mosques as Friday prayers ended in the largely Sunni Muslim city.

"I see seven bodies inside several burned cars," said a Reuters witness, speaking from near the Taqwa mosque, which is frequented by Sunni Islamist hardliners, where the first blast occurred. A security source said several people were killed in the second blast outside al-Salam mosque. Ambulances rushed to the scene and heavy black smoke covered the sky. Television footage showed crushed cars with their windows smashed. Some cars were burning. 

People ran through the streets carrying a woman whose face was obscured by blood. Two bodies could be seen on the ground and apartment blocks had their windows smashed. "There are many casualties in the two mosques, we still do not have a clear idea of the figures," a security source said. 

The explosions came a week after a huge blast killed at least 24 people in a southern suburb of Beirut, a Shi'ite Hezbollah militant group stronghold. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Israel was behind that blast. "The fingerprints of the Israeli terrorism are all over it. Their goal is to destabilize the region and undermine the steadfastness of the Lebanese people." 

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt also attributed the blast to Israel, as did a former Hezbollah MP. However, a Sunni Islamist group calling itself the Brigades of Aisha claimed responsibility for the explosion, saying it targeted Hezbollah, and promised more attacks. Sectarian tension in Lebanon is being stoked by the conflict in neighboring Syria. 

Many of Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslims support Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is fighting a largely Sunni insurgency against his rule. Last week's blast was the second such incident in just over a month in south Beirut. 

Groups opposed to Assad have threatened to retaliate against Hezbollah for intervening on behalf of his regime in the Syrian civil war. In July, a car bomb exploded in the nearby Beir al-Abed district, wounding more than 50 people.