khazen.org prays for the victims of the bombings.
Lebanese emergency personnel and civilians inspect the site of a bomb explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, on February 19, 2014 (AFP Photo/)
Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq (L), Acting Director General of the Internal Security Forces Major General Ibrahim Basbous (2nd L) and head of the Internal Security Force's Information Branch Colonel Imad Othman (R) inspect a map at the ISF headquarters to locate the site of the explosion that occured near the Iranian cultural centre in the southern suburbs of Beirut February 19, 2014. The al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed a twin bomb attack in Beirut on Wednesday, saying such attacks would continue until Hezbollah forces withdrew from the fighting in Syria and its own fighters were released from Lebanese jails. REUTERS/Hussam Shebaro (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq (R) and Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil (2nd R) inspect the site of an explosion near the Iranian cultural centre in the southern suburbs of Beirut February 19, 2014
A Lebanese army soldier carries two injured children away from the site of an explosion
Lebanese army investigators work at the site of an explosion, in the suburb of Beir Hassan, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014. Two suicide bombers blew up their cars Wednesday trying to hit an Iranian cultural center in a Shiite district in southern Beirut, killing at least four people and wounding more than a hundred, according to Lebanese officials and an al-Qaida linked group that claimed responsibility. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades said it had carried out the simultaneous bombings as retaliation for the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian war alongside President Bashar Assad's forces. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Shop owners hoist a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the Iranian cultural centre at the site of an explosion in the southern suburbs of Beirut February 19, 2014. The al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed a twin bomb attack in Beirut on Wednesday, saying such attacks would continue until Hezbollah forces withdrew from the fighting in Syria and its own fighters were released from Lebanese jails. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
Lebanese emergency personnel and civilians inspect the site of a bomb explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, on February 19, 2014 (AFP Photo/)
Lebanese Red Cross workers carry a wounded woman away from the site of a car bomb
Lebanese emergency personnel and civilians inspect the site of a bomb explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, on February 19, 2014 (AFP Photo/)
(Reuters) - The al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed a twin bomb attack in Beirut on Wednesday, saying such attacks would continue until Hezbollah forces withdrew from the fighting in Syria and its own fighters were released from Lebanese jails. The radical Lebanese group, which claimed the attack on its Twitter account, also said it was responsible for a November 19 attack on the Iranian embassy that killed 23 people, using the same tactic of twin suicide bombs. In both cases, most of the victims were civilians.
"We will continue - through the grace of God and his strength - to target Iran and its party in Lebanon (Hezbollah) in all of their security, political and military centers to achieve our two demands: One, the exit of all fighters from the Party of Iran in Syria. Two, the release of all our prisoners from oppressive Lebanese prisons," the statement said. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades have strong links to Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps as well as connections with the Gulf. One of its senior military leaders, Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, was a Saudi national. He was arrested by Lebanese authorities last December, who said he died from kidney failure while in their custody.
Several other figures said to be linked to the group have been captured by Lebanese intelligence forces in recent months. Last week, the army arrested Naim Abbas, a man suspected of being a leading member of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.Lebanese military forces described Abbas as the "mastermind of car bombs" that have targeted Shi'ite areas in recent months, of which there have been at least nine.The attacks have targeted Hezbollah-controlled neighborhoods around the capital Beirut and towns on the northern Syrian-Lebanese border, where Hezbollah is also powerful.In its Wednesday statement, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades said its attacks were a sign of solidarity with the Syrian uprising, now nearly three years old. "We say to the people of Syria, rejoice, for your blood is our blood, and the Party of Iran (Hezbollah) will not enjoy safety in Lebanon until safety is returned to you in Syria."
