Beirut, Hezbollah brace for Islamic State strikes

Lebanese security forces and Hezbollah are bracing themselves for future suicide attacks by the Islamic State (IS), formerly named the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

ISIS fighters (photo credit: REUTERS)
ISIS fighters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Lebanese security forces and Hezbollah are bracing themselves for future suicide attacks by the Islamic State (IS), formerly named the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Lebanon is in “immediate danger of suicide bombings” a senior security source said, the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper reported on Wednesday.
“Security coordination between the various security services has prevented Lebanon from falling into the trap of bombings. There is information about a large list of targets that IS has put together, and they include areas [under] Hezbollah, the Lebanese Army and [Lebanese Intelligence], as well as civilian areas, in order to sow an atmosphere of fear and confusion,” the source said.
The Syrian Army and Saudi Arabia are helping security forces thwart future attacks, according to the source.
The Islamic State has infiltrated Palestinian refugee camps in the country, he added.
Separately, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, linked to al-Qaida and which has claimed responsibility in the past for rocket fire at Israel, taunted Hezbollah.
“I ask God to lure you into the Iraq battle,” the group’s spokesman Serajeddine Zoraiqat tweeted on Tuesday.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah called us “agents of the Jews,” but “everyone knows about the arrest of dozens from the Mossad espionage network from within your ranks!!” Zoraiqat said.
“And stop the lie that you are a ‘resistance’ against the Jews, when the Muslim nation knows that in fact you are protecting their borders while Muslim children are killed by your ‘resistance,’” he said in another tweet.