43 killed and 240 wounded in two suicide bombings in Beirut claimed by IS

At least 43 people were killed and more than 240 wounded yesterday in two suicide bomb blasts claimed by Islamic State in a crowded residential district in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah.

The explosions were the first attacks in more than a year to target a Hezbollah stronghold inside Lebanon, and came at time when the group is stepping up its involvement in the Syrian civil war, a fight which has brought Sunni Islamist threats and invective against the Iran-backed Shia terror group.

Hezbollah has sent hundreds of fighters to support Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the four-year-old conflict over the border. Government forces backed by Hezbollah and Iranian troops have intensified their fight against mostly Sunni insurgents, including IS, since Russia launched an air campaign in support of Assad on September 30.