Two Rockets Hit Lebanon Town Of Hermel

Two rockets hit the eastern Lebanese town
of Hermel, a Hezbollah stronghold, on
Sunday, a security source told AFP on
condition of anonymity. “Two rockets landed in the town of Hermel,
in an area between the Mabarrat teaching
association and the Masharia Al Qaa area,
causing no casualties,” the source said. It was not immediately clear whether the
rockets were launched from inside Lebanon
or from across the border in strife-torn
Syria, said the source. Hermel and other areas of eastern Lebanon,
a bastion of Lebanese Shiite group
Hezbollah, have been hit by several rocket
attacks launched from Syria in recent
months. Tension has soared in Lebanon over the
Syria conflict, after Hezbollah declared its
support and sent troops to back President
Bashar Al Assad’s bid to crush an anti-
Damascus rebellion. Though Lebanon is officially neutral in
Syria’s war, the country is deeply divided
into backers of the Al Assad regime and
supporters of the rebels. Damascus dominated Lebanon militarily and
politically for nearly 30 years until 2005. The latest rocket attack comes just three
days after a car bombing in Hezbollah’s
heartland in southern Beirut killed 27
people. The toll was the highest since a Beirut car
bomb killed former prime minister Rafiq
Hariri and 22 others in February 2005. [AFP]