BEIRUT- Nusra Front in Lebanon claimed responsibility on Thursday, Jan. 16, for a deadly blast in northeast Lebanon that killed five and wounded 42, saying the attack was in retaliation to Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria.

Lebanese security forces inspect the scene of a car bomb that went off in Hermel, near the border with Syria.

The blast occurred at 8:55 a.m. during the morning rush hour near the town’s government building as people made their way to work in a residential and commercial neighborhood in Hermel, a town near the northern border with Syria and where Hizbullah enjoys broad support.

“[We] shook a stronghold of Iran’s party in Hermel with a suicide bombing spearheaded by one of Nusra Front in Lebanon’s men in response to what the group is committing as crimes against Sunni women and children in Syria,” the group said in a statement on its Twitter feed.

Nusra Front in Lebanon is an offshoot of the radical Syrian rebel group fighting President Bashar Assad’s government forces. Syria’s Nusra Front has not yet confirmed the claim for the blast.

“We call on the Sunni community in all Lebanese areas to unite their ranks to face the party of the devil … the party is stupid for placing its headquarters among civilians,” it added.