Lebanese state media say Syrian man suspected of deadly bombing committed suicide to avoid detention

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian citizen suspected of being behind a deadly bombing that killed and wounded dozens near the capital, Damascus, last month committed suicide when gunmen tried to detain him in Lebanon where he fled, state-run National News Agency reported Saturday.

The agency identified the man as Wissam Dalla and said that he entered Lebanon illegally and was staying with relatives in a Beirut southern suburb where he was planning another “terrorist attack.” The 23-year-old man jumped from the 7th floor of the building where he was staying late Friday night and later succumbed to his wounds in hospital.

NNA did not report on who tried to detain Dalla but other media outlets said they were members of the militant Hezbollah group, adding that the dead man was suspected of links to the extremist Islamic State organization.

On July 28, a motorcycle planted with explosives detonated in the Damascus suburb of Sayida Zeinab near a Shiite Muslim shrine killing at least six people and wounding dozens a day before the solemn holy day of Ashoura.

The neighborhood is named after the shrine for Sayida Zeinab, the granddaughter of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

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