Lebanese security forces and emergency personnel gather outside a cafe targeted by a suicide bombing on Jan. 10, 2015 in the Jabal Mohsen.

At least seven people were killed and scores more were wounded in a suicide attack in a pro-Assad neighborhood of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Syria’s Al-Qaeda wing claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to the army, the attack in the predominantly Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen was carried out by one suicide
bomber. But the country’s state-run news agency said the attack was carried out by two.

The National News Agency said one suicide bomber blew himself up in a café in Jabal Mohsen, a predominantly Alawite neighborhood, before a second bomber set off his charge when people gathered at the scene, resulting in more casualties.

The NNA identified the two bombers as Taha Samir Kayyal and Bilal Mohammad Ibrahim, both Lebanese from Mankoubin in the northern city that has been rocked by frequent violence linked to the ongoing conflict in Syria.

The Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attack on a Twitter account operated by the group’s media arm, Reuters news agency reported.

It described the attack as a double suicide bombing that was carried out “in revenge for the Sunnis in Syria and Lebanon.”

The Lebanese Red Cross said at least 36 people were wounded in the incident.

Lebanon’s The Daily Star newspaper said the attack came hours after the judiciary issued a new arrest warrant against Ali Eid, the head of the pro-Assad Arab Democratic Party that is based and holds sway in Jabal Mohsen.

Eid has been charged with aiding a suspect involved in the double suicide bombings targeting two mosques in Lebanon’s second largest city in August 2013. The bombings of Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques led to the killing of 47 people and the wounding of dozens more.

Lebanese sources told Al Arabiya News Channel that one of the victim’s of Saturday’s attack was identified as Samir Agha, who was accused of being involved in the 2013 attack on Al-Taqwa Al-Salam mosques.

Tripoli has seen frequent clashes linked to the crisis raging in neighboring Syria, particularly between fighters based in Jabal Mohsen and the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

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