BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 26 (UPI) -- At least four people were wounded Sunday by two rockets shot into in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, officials said.
The rockets exploded in Hezbollah-controlled areas in the Lebanese capital, local media said. The incident occurred just hours after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah admitted his fighters were operating in Syria to aid troops loyal to President Bashar Assad, The (Beirut) Daily Star reported.
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. reported four Syrian nationals were injured in the rocket attack. One Grad rocket exploded at a car dealership in the suburb of Chiyah and another rocket damaged a building on Maroun Marisk street.
Lebanese soldiers cordoned off the area, the LBC said, and soldiers later discovered the site from where the rockets were fired and found three rocket launchers in a forest near Mount Lebanon. The soldiers dismantled the third rocket launcher that had failed to fire.
"The attacks are aimed at creating security tensions and certain retaliations, given the timing of the incident. We call on all sides to act wisely to prevent those seeking strife to achieve their goals," Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement posted online by Naharnet.
In a televised speech Saturday night to mark the 13th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon, Nasrallah confirmed for the first time that Hezbollah fighters were battling Islamic extremists in Syria.
"Syria is the back of the resistance and the resistance cannot stand with folded arms, while its back is broken," he said. "If Syria falls into the hands of America, Israel and the takfiris, [when one Muslim declares another Muslim a non-believer] the people of our region will go into a dark period. If Syria falls, Palestine will be lost," he said.
