Tensions in Lebanon Again

It feels surreal to know that violence and bloodshed are happening nearby but yet I am completely ignorant until I learn about them much later.

I didn't know that fighting has started between Lebanese security forces and militants sympathetic to Al Queada in Tripoli, north of Beirut, until I read the CNN a day later. 27 soldiers and 10 militants were killed in the attack. It seems to me that those poor Lebanese boys doing national service never stood a chance against the well trained Islamic extremists.

Neither did I know about the bomb that went off in Beirut on Sunday until I spoke to a staff in my hotel.

"Did you hear about what happened in Ashrafieh last night?"

"What happened?"

"Some bomb went off at ABC"

"Wow, I was just there one day ago!!! Anybody got injured?"

"A women died."

"Wow! That's terrible. Was she nearby?"

"She was sleeping in her bed when the wall came down on her"

"Two guys from Emirates, staying in this hotel were injured also, do you know them?"

"Nope"

"One guy got a cut from a stone on his head. Another guy had his ear injured."

"Are they going to be Ok?"

"I think not so serious. Be careful, don't go out at night, if you can, stay in the hotel."

The same night, another bomb exploded in Verdun, an upscale shopping area I visited several times.

"Did you hear the explosion yesterday night?" A colleague was asking this morning? We are both staying in Hamra, which is near to Verdun. I didn't. I was eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, a good distance away from Hamra.

I remembered taking a nice stroll after dinner along the beach and Bliss street before returning to the hotel. It was still difficult to imagine that just a few streets across, firemen were trying to put out fires from the explosion.

"Be careful." The same colleague said before ending our chat. Hmmm... how to be careful? I don't think I'm able to spot a car bomb anywhere.

Cleanup after Beirut blast (Source: CNN)

Oh Baby Baby It's A Wild World

Yes, indeed it is. Just take a look at the recent outbreaks of suicidal style killings in Algeria and Morocco, two countries that I happened to be in at the time coincidentally.

In Morocco, Casablanca April 10th, 3 suicide bombers wearing explosive belts blew themselves up in Casablanca killing a policeman and wounding others. A 4th bomber was gunned down by a police sniper before he had any chance of blowing himself up. (CNN source)

Then on April 11th, a suicide bomber killed 30 and wounded 200 or more when he detonated his car in downtown Algiers. Another bomb also killed 11 people when it went off near a police station. (CNN source)

A day after my arrival in Casablanca on Friday 13th, another two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the American Cultural Center. A third suspected bomber was arrested before he could blow himself up.

And not to mention many more similar terrorist acts around the world, especially Iraq and even in the US.

Why are these people so eager to take their lives and harm the lives of many other innocent people in the process? The common justification for such kinds of action is that the aged old idea of "good vs evil" sometimes with heavy religious overtones. The perpetuators rationalize themselves as the good guys who are fighting against something perceived as evil. However, I believe that any religion worth its salt will never condone any form of reckless killing no matter how noble the ideals maybe.

Incidently the issue reminded me of an espisode in the series Supernatural that I watched recently. In the episode, the spirit of a recently deceased pastor, due to a violent shooting, started to reappear to others as a holy vision. The spirit, believing that he had become God's avenging angel, started appealling as a vision to some 'low life' (a prostitute and an alcoholic), and offered them 'redemption' by taking the life of someone, whom the spirit knew had committed or is going to commit a grievous crime. At the end of the episode, the pastor's spirit, summoned by a séance performed by Sam Winchester, defended his actions and that he was acting upon the word of God, to strike down those who has sinned against humanity. Hearing that, the mentor of the dead pastor disagreed and said, "'Thou shall not kill!' THAT is the word of God!"

Turmoil in Algiers?

Algeria made it on Strait Times Interactive today with a majoy league bad news that reads: 2 Algiers bombs kill 30, stoke security fears." According to another similar news article on sg.yahoo, it was the first time since the 1990s that the Algiers city center was targeted. The suicide bombing was targetted at the prime minister's headquarters. Hospital sources put the toll from the two bombings at 30. Earlier, the official APS news agency put the toll at 17 dead with 82 wounded. The main guerilla group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has adopted a new name since January after it deepened its ties to al Qaeda, has since claimed responsibility. The group, now called the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, has been responsible for a number of deadly bombings targeting security forces and foreigners.

Darn!

Well at least the situation reported by the news is better than what I heard from the locals this morning. They told me there were five explosions altogether and 16 unexploded bombs discovered by the security forces. One of the explosion was just few kilometers near our office. Although there is no way of comfirming these hearsay but I believe that the locals are pretty fond of blowing things out of proportion (no pun intended).

It was widespread belief that that the islamic insurgency was a thing of the past after the issue of presidential amnesty for the insurgents (see my previous entry). Any occurences of violence are restricted to the mountainous regions while populated regions are heavily patrolled by security forces. Seems like this theory has been proven wrong.

But before everyone panics, it may be wise to look at the current situation objectively. According to the latest popular belief, the escalation of insurgent attacks is aimed at disrupting the coming general election in May. So everyone can expect a step-up in attacks from now until May. We just have to avoid public places in order to be safe. All in all, Algeria is still a safe place given the low statistics of attack occurences compared to the large numbers of foreigners here.

Does knowing this help? Hell, no. Our group of expatriates has to commute from our guest apartment to the office daily through congested and narrow city streets for about 20 - 40 mins, depending on traffic conditions, in a big Hiace passenger van. We are going to be sitting ducks vulnerable to road side bombs or sidewalk gun fire attacks if we are being targeted. Am I being paranoid? I don't think so, there had been one such attack on expatriates of an American company last year and a similar incident on a Russian company bus last month. While the situation is not totally FUBAR but it will be something to think about on the daily commute.

Man, life in Algiers is getting more interesting!