While there were at least three deaths, there were five wounded that included the car’s Lebanese driver and an American at a nearby school. The blast that took place came before a farewell reception for the US ambassador in the downtown section of Beirut.
The attack comes at a time where the political tensions are high in the country of Lebanon between the United States supported central government and the Syrian supported opposition that are deadlocked in picking a new president.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it an act of terrorism.
“The United States will, of course, not be deterred in its efforts to help the Lebanese people, to help the democratic forces in Lebanon, to help Lebanon resist force and interference in their affairs,” Rice had said to reporters while visiting Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
This would be viewed as the first time that the US has been targeted in a politically motivated attack in the country since the mid-1980s.