| 2015 Tripoli, Lebanon bombings | |
| Partof: | Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon |
| Location: | Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli, Lebanon |
| Date: | 10 January 2015 |
| Type: | Suicide bombings |
| Fatalities: | 9 |
| Injuries: | More than 30 |
| Perps: | Nusra Front |
| Target: | Alawite civilians |
On 10 January 2015, nine people were killed and more than 30 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowded café in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli, Lebanon.[1]
After the first explosion, the second suicide bomber approached the Abu Imran café. Before he could blow himself up, 60-year-old father of seven "Abu Ali" Issa Khaddour rushed and tackled the bomber, and prevented many deaths.[2] The wounded were taken to the hospital in Zgharta, as Jabal Mohsen residents were afraid that Sunni Islamist mobs would kill Alawite wounded if taken to a hospital in Tripoli.[3] The dead were buried on January 12.[4]
The al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group Nusra Front took responsibility for the attacks, which targeted members of the Alawite sect. It was the first suicide attack on a civilian neighbourhood in nearly a year, following a security sweep that temporarily calmed the Bab al-Tabbaneh–Jabal Mohsen conflict between Sunnis and Alawites of Tripoli. Nusra claimed the attack was in revenge for the Syrian government's attacks on Sunnis in the Syrian civil war, and for a bombing of Sunni mosques that was blamed on Alawites.[5] The interior minister of Lebanon, Nohad Machnouk, said on January 11 that the attack was carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[6]
The US strongly condemned the attack.[7] On January 11, the Qalamoun branch of the Nusra Front threatened to conduct more attacks against Jabal Mohsen and Hezbollah.[8] On 10 April 2015, one of the men implicated in the bombings was killed by Lebanese security forces.[9]
A suicide bombing was also supposed to have taken place in another Jabal Mohsen café simultaneously with the 2015 Beirut bombings on November 12, but the supposed bomber was detained.[10]