ISIL claims bombing in Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold: SITE

DUBAI (AFP) - The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed credit for a deadly bombing in the Beirut stronghold of the "criminal" Shiite militant group Hezbollah, a monitoring group said on Saturday.

ISIL managed to penetrate the "security system of the Party of Satan (Hezbollah)... and crush its strongholds... in a first small payment from the heavy account that is awaiting those wicked criminals," according to a statement obtained by US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the online activity of terrorist organisations.

Four people died and another 77 were wounded by a suicide car bomb in the Haret Hreik district.

It was the latest strike against the powerful party, whose fighters are aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that pits him largely against Sunni Muslims, including ISIL.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.