Naameh Car Bombing Ring Involved in Ruweis Attack, Linked to Abdallah Azzam Brigades

Detained top Qaida-linked militant Naim Abbas has allegedly confessed that the Naameh car bombing ring busted in August 2013 has links to the the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Monday, Palestinian national Abbas, who is also known as Abou Ismail, informed the army intelligence that the members of al-Naameh ring have close ties with the brigades.

The Naameh cell members are allegedly involved in the Ruweis bombing that shook Beirut's southern suburbs on August 15 2013, killing more than 20 people and wounding at least 300 others.

The report pointed out Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau detained during the recent months people involved in the bombing.

The Naameh ring members Issa Aa., Wissam Aa.and Khaled M. were arrested, however the whereabouts of S. B. and M. A. are still unknown.

According to al-Akhabr one of the detained members, Issa, was tasked with transferring “stuff” from the Beirut mainly Sunni neighborhood of Tariq al-Jadeideh to al-Naameh, which is a neighborhood in South of Lebanon, and vice-versa.

Eight people, of Lebanese and Palestinian nationalities, were found involved in the scheme to detonate a booby-trapped car found in Naameh neighborhood in South of Lebanon in another location.

The Naameh plot was believed to be the springboard for the attacks.

The car carried a fake license plate and contained five boxes of TNT, an unidentified explosive substance, fuses and a device for remote detonation.

Earlier in February, the army announced the arrest of top militant Naim Abbas, one of the leaders of the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades. Following his interrogation, he told the army about two car rigged with explosives which were dismantled in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa district and the Bekaa area of al-Labweh.

A string of car and suicide bomb attacks have targeted Hizbullah strongholds in Lebanon in recent months, killing dozens of civilians.