2015 Beirut bombings

2015 Beirut bombings
Part of the Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon
Bourj el-Barajneh entrance in the Palestinian refugee camp
Beirut is located in Lebanon
Beirut
Beirut
LocationBourj el-Barajneh, Beirut, Lebanon
Date12 November 2015
TargetShia civilians
Attack type
Suicide attacks
Deaths46 (Including 3 perpetrator)
Injured200–240
Perpetrator ISIS

On 12 November 2015, two suicide bombers attacked Bourj el-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, that is inhabited mostly by Shia Muslims.[1] Reports of the number of fatalities concluded that 43 people died directly from the detonation.[2][1][3] Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks.[2][1]

The bombings were the worst terrorist attack in Beirut since the end of the Lebanese Civil War. They came twelve days after the bombing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula that killed 224 people and a day before attacks in Paris that killed 137.[4] ISIL claimed responsibility for these attacks as well.

Around 48 hours after the attack, Internal Security Forces arrested eleven people, mostly Syrians, over the attack. It later announced the arrest of two other Syrian and Lebanese suspects. They were arrested in a Palestinian refugee camp located in Burj al-Barajneh and a flat in the capital's eastern district of Achrafieh, which had allegedly been used to prepare the explosive belts. The initial plan was apparently to send five suicide bombers to a hospital in the neighbourhood, but heavy security forced them to change the target to a densely populated area.[5]

  1. ^ a b c Barnard, Anne; Saad, Hwaida (12 November 2015). "ISIS Claims Responsibility for Blasts That Killed Dozens in Beirut". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b "ISIS claims responsibility for Beirut southern suburb attack". The Daily Star. Lebanon. 13 November 2015. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Day of mourning in Lebanon after deadly Beirut bombings". Al Jazeera. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Why the Paris attacks overshadowed Beirut bombings", by Caitlin Dickson, Yahoo! News
  5. ^ "Beirut bombing: Lebanese authorities arrest 11 people, mostly Syrians, over twin bombings", from ABC News