26 May 2013

Rocket strike on Hezbollah district of Beirut

9:52 pm on 26 May 2013

At least three people have been injured by a rocket strike on an area of the Lebanese capital Beirut that is controlled by the Hezbollah movement.

The attack came after a speech by Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasarullah, in which he said his fighters would continue to fight on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

The BBC reports two rockets exploded in southern Beirut early on Sunday morning with one exploding in a car sales lot and the other hitting a building.

Tension has been high over the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

On Saturday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised his supporters they would prevail in Syria, where they are backing President Bashar al-Assad.

There was no immediate indication who had fired the rockets but Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said the projectiles, believed to be 107mm rockets with an 8km range, had been fired from a position to the south-east.

Dozens of militants from Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim organisation, are said to have been killed in recent fighting alongside Syrian troops, who face a mainly Sunni Muslim opposition.

Mr Assad is fighting to end a revolt against his rule which began just over two years ago and has left at least 80,000 people dead and made refugees of some 1.5 million.