No Progress in Probe on Church Blast Amid Plan to Put Cameras at Zahle Entrances

The blast at the Syriac Orthodox church in Zahle went off after a call was made to a mobile phone attached to the detonation fuse, the first time a bomb has been detonated via cell phone in Lebanon, An Nahar daily reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said the investigation into the bombing on Sunday revealed that the culprits linked the detonation fuse of the 2 kilogram-TNT device to a phone that has a SIM card. Its remains were found near the church.

Despite the discovery, no major progress has been made yet in the probe into the 4:15 am bombing that blew out a side door of the church and damaged benches inside as well as the altar.

As Safir newspaper said that Internal Security Forces carried out patrols on major roads in the Central Bekaa the day before. It said more than 30 four-wheelers took part in the operation.

While camera footage of the area surrounding the church did not reveal any leads, Zahle municipality chief Joseph Diab al-Maalouf said that the municipality was fully coordinating with security forces to establish a center to monitor the city’s entrances through cameras.