Blom Bank Was Target of Beirut Blast, Interior Minister Says
- Two people wounded in Sunday’s blast from bomb in flower pot
- Attack raises questions over link to Hezbollah financing law
Lebanese security forces cordon off an area covered in debris following an explosion near a major bank in the western part of the Lebanese capital Beirut late on June 12, 2016. An AFP correspondent saw almost all the entire glass facade of a branch of the BLOM BANK, one of the country's largest, blown out, with debris littering the ground. / AFP / ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)
Photographer: ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty ImagesLebanon’s Blom Bank was the target of Sunday’s bombing attack in Beirut, the country’s interior minister said, raising questions about whether it was connected to a U.S. law targeting Hezbollah’s finances. The bank’s chairman said it was too soon to assign blame.
“The bomb was right by the bank’s wall, so there is no question about it,” Nouhad Al Mashnouq said in a telephone interview. While he stopped short of directly blaming the Iranian-backed militant group for the attack, he said he expects banks would “implement the law to the letter.”