Israel has carried out several air raids in Lebanon’s capital Beirut that it said targeted the headquarters of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

A series of massive explosions sent huge clouds of smoke soaring above the densely populated Haret Hreik neighbourhood in Dahiyeh, southern Beirut, around dusk on Friday. Waves of strikes continued early on Saturday, pushing thousands of residents to flee the area.

“It’s been a long night of violence with near nonstop Israeli strikes targeting neighbourhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs,” reported Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr from Beirut. “The people there are making their way out…But at the end of the day there is a lot of concern that this is just the beginning.”

The Israeli military said the initial attack Friday targeted the Iran-aligned group’s “central headquarters”, which it said were “embedded under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh in Beirut”.

Several buildings in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Dahiyeh were reduced to rubble, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported. The blast rattled windows and shook houses some 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Beirut. Ambulances were seen heading to the scene, sirens wailing.

At least six people were killed and 91 others were wounded in the attack, according to Lebanese health authorities, with the toll expected to rise much higher.

Source: AL Jazeera 

BDST: 1207 HRS, SEPT 28, 2024
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