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Burying the dead in Lebanon

August 25, 2013

One of the deadliest bomb attacks in decades has raised fears that Lebanon could soon be drawn into the Syrian civil war. On Saturday, dozens of victims were being buried on a day of national mourning.

https://p.dw.com/p/19VT5

Soldiers on foot and in armoured vehicles patrolled the tense northern city on Saturday, as dozens of victims of the twin blasts were being buried during a day of national mourning.

Lebanon is officially neutral on the conflict in Syria, but it is torn between saupporters of Bashir al-Assad and rebel factions.

The twin blasts that ripped through a Sunni neighorhood in Tripoli on Friday came just a week after an explosion killed more than 20 people in a Shiite stronghold in Beirut.

Shops and businesses remained shut in Tripoli on Saturday in honor of the 45 victims of the two explosions, which had targeted mosques in Beirut. Black ribbons were hung across buildings in areas near the blast sites.

A further 800 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

The UN Security Council condemned the "terrorist attacks" and "stressed the importance for all Lebanese parties to respect Lebanon's policy of disassociation and to refrain from any involvement in the Syrian crisis."

The US, the EU and Iran also condemned the blasts.

ng/ccp (AP, Reuters, dpa)