6 killed, 129 injured in Beirut twin blasts

The casualties of Wednesday's twin blasts that targeted the Iranian cultural mission in the Lebanese capital of Beirut rose to 6 killed and 129 injured, according to a statement by the Lebanese health ministry. Earlier in the day, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour put the casualties at five killed and 103 injured. An al-Qaida linked group known as Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed on Twitter the responsibility for the suicide blasts in Bir Hassan, a suburban neighborhood in the south of Beirut, the heartland of the Shiite military party of Hezbollah. In its message on Twitter, the group said that it would continue its operations against the "Iranian party in Lebanon," in reference to Hezbollah, as long as it was fighting in Syria to support the "murderous regime" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Abdullah Azzam Brigades were also responsible for the twin suicide bombings against the Iranian embassy in Beirut on Nov. 17, which killed 25 people and injured 147 others. The Lebanese army captured in January the leader of the group, Majed Al-Majed, who died later in the Lebanese army's custody