Lebanese soldiers stand outside the headquarters of BLOM BANK after a auto bomb exploded near the entrance in central Beirut, Lebanon on June 12, 2016.
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Smoke rose from the Verdun area of Beirut after the blast was heard. Saad Azhari, Blom Bank’s chairman, cautioned against reaching “predetermined” conclusions, the state-run National News Agency reported.
State-run National News Agency said the explosive device was placed under a auto.
Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq said a bomb containing about 3-4 kilos (6.6-8.8 pounds) of explosives had been “placed behind the back wall of BLOM BANK”.
One security source said the timing of the explosion, on a Sunday evening while the bank was empty and many people were home breaking their fast, indicated the perpetrators wanted to avoid high human casualties. That bombing, however, was claimed by the self-declared “Islamic State” (IS) movement.
Blom Bank is one of the Lebanese banks that has closed bank accounts held by people suspected of ties to the powerful Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah in line with new USA financial regulations targeting its finances. The bank’s chairman said it was too soon to assign blame.
Blom Bank, one of Lebanon’s biggest banks, has closed more accounts than other banks as a result of the legislation, Lebanese officials say.
The Lebanese central bank has said it must comply with the U.S. Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act (HIFPA) passed in December, otherwise the Lebanese banking sector will be shut out of the international financial system.
Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc issued a statement last week reiterating its criticism of the central bank’s position, saying the USA law infringed Lebanon’s national sovereignty.
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Hezbollah, whose fighters played a major role in forcing Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000, enjoys strong support in the Lebanese Shi’ite community.
