A Sunni Islamist group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Beirut . The group , Thursday , claims it 's the ` ` first small payment '' in a bigger push against Hezbollah . Thursday 's car bomb detonated in a Beirut suburb known as a Shia stronghold . The al Qaeda-affiliated group has been pushing for a fundamentalist Islamic state carved out of northern Syria , while Hezbollah fighters have been supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 's brutal push to crush a rebellion there . Lebanon has seen a surge in violence as tensions are exacerbated by Lebanon 's civil war .
A Sunni Islamist group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Beirut . The group , Thursday , claims it 's the ` ` first small payment '' in a bigger push against Hezbollah . Thursday 's car bomb detonated in a Beirut suburb known as a Shia stronghold . Lebanon has seen a surge in violence as tensions are exacerbated by Lebanon 's civil war .