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Lebanese Police Raid Prison After Deadly Bombings


FILE - Roumieh prison, Lebanon's biggest jail, is seen in a hilly eastern suburb overlooking Beirut, Lebanon.
FILE - Roumieh prison, Lebanon's biggest jail, is seen in a hilly eastern suburb overlooking Beirut, Lebanon.

Lebanese police have raided a notorious prison as part of an operation targeting inmates that officials say were connected to a deadly bombing Saturday in Tripoli.

Helicopters hovered above the overcrowded Roumieh prison east of Beirut early Monday while inside, police transferred a group of inmates to another section of the facility.

Roumieh prison, east of Beirut, Lebanon
Roumieh prison, east of Beirut, Lebanon

Several prisoners burned their mattresses in protest.

Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said authorities had intercepted phone calls between prisoners and militants on the outside.

The attack involved two suicide bombers who set off their explosives at a cafe in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli. The blasts killed at least nine people and wounded 37 others.

The al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front claimed responsibility.

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