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Lebanon Arrests Suspected Mastermind of Twin Bombings Last Year in Beirut

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a pair bombings last November that killed 46 people and wounded more than 200.
Las fuerzas de seguridad libanesas inspeccionan el sitio de un ataque suicida doble en Beirut el 13 de noviembre de 2015. (Imagen por Wael Hamzeh/EPA)

Authorities in Lebanon announced on Sunday that the suspected mastermind behind a pair of suicide bombings that rocked Beirut late last year has been arrested.

According to Lebanon's Daily Star, police released a statement announcing the arrest of a man identified by the initials "Kh.Z." Lebanon's Ministry of Public Information also identified the man as Kh.Z., saying he was a Lebanese national born in 1986 who also used the name Abou Talha.

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The Daily Star reported that the suspect was being interrogated after his arrest Saturday night in the Tripoli neighborhood of Qibbeh in northern Lebanon.

Related: Suspected Israeli Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Leader Samir Kuntar in Syria

Twin attacks in November hit Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood, a predominantly Shia area with a heavy Hezbollah presence. The blasts killed 46 people and wounded more than 200. The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the bombings, which were the worst terror attacks Lebanon had seen in years. The bombings occurred one day before the terror attacks in Paris.

According to news agency AFP, Lebanese security forces were "closely monitoring" the suspect, and they reportedly had reason to believe he "was in communication with IS in Raqqa." Police were quoted as saying the man directed a group that was planning a series of bombings in Lebanon's north.

Lebanese Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq said in November that security forces had arrested 11 people over the bombings, and that "the whole suicide bombing network" behind the Burj al-Barajneh blasts had been taken into custody.

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