Lebanese forces foil suicide attack in busy Beirut district

Lebanese security forces arrested a would-be suicide bomber inside a crowded cafe in one of the busiest neighbourhoods in the capital Beirut on Saturday night.

Lebanon’s National New Agency said military intelligence agents detained a man wearing an explosive bomb belt after he entered a Costa coffee shop in the upscale Hamra neighbourhood in west Beirut.

The cafe is on the main street of the bustling area, and was filled with people socialising on a weekend evening when the arrest occurred around 2100 GMT.

Security sources told The New Arab the man was being followed by security forces, who have stepped up foot patrols in the neighborhood in recent weeks.

The man was injured during the arrest, with several soldiers holding him down to ensure he was not able to detonate the belt, according to a statement by the army.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment before interrogation.

Lebanon has been hit by a string of bomb attacks in recent years, with some linked to the ongoing war in neighbouring Syria.

Some of the deadliest blasts have targeted neighbourhoods sympathetic to the powerful Shia Hizballah movement, which is fighting alongside Syria's government against rebels.

The casualties in the blasts have been almost exclusively civilians.

The Hamra neighbourhood, a district known for shopping and nightlife, has not previously been hit by an attack.

But in June 2016, the army said it had arrested jihadists from the Islamic State group planning attacks against busy areas, including Hamra.