Lebanon Shaken by Yet Another Blast

In what has become a recurring phenomenon in the past two months, Lebanese citizens on Tuesday experienced yet another major scare as a large explosion rocked the southern part of the country less than 30 miles from the capital Beirut. This time, the blast was linked by some to Hizbullah, a Shi’ite group designated by the United States, the European Union and Israel a terror organization. According to local reports, an arms warehouse belonging to the group, which on top of its political arm maintains Lebanon’s only fully armed militia, blew up due to what Hizbullah called “a technical error.” Officials blocked all access roads leading to the site in the village of Ain Qana. Despite footage showing extensive damage to nearby buildings, no deaths were reported. On August 4, an enormous explosion caused by close to 3,000 tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate demolished Beirut’s port and large swaths of the city, killing close to 200, injuring over 6,500 and leaving close to 300,000 residents at least temporarily homeless.