l-Nusra Front in Lebanon, named after its Syrian affiliate, claimed the attack on Twitter, saying the suicide bombing was a response to Hezbollah involvement in Syria.
The attack is the seventh targeting Hezbollah strongholds since the group said it had sent men to Syria to fight alongside Assad’s forces against mainly Sunni rebels.
Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said it had distributed aid for a third consecutive day to the Yarmuk refugee camp, which has been under a choking siege that the Observatory says has left 88 people dead from starvation and lack of medical care.
On the diplomatic front, the two sides and world powers were assessing the 10 days of talks in Switzerland last month which showed few results, and with prospects of a follow up meeting uncertain.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was blunt after the final session Friday, saying “we have not reached tangible results”.
Despite persistent pressure from UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and co-sponsors Russia and the United States, regime and rebel delegations failed to agree on a single point.
On Saturday, Muallem dismissed what he branded the “coalition of the so-called ‘opposition’”, and said it had been a “stain” on them that they had refused to sign a declaration condemning “terrorism” in Syria.
The regime had sought to focus discussions on “terrorism” its term for those seeking Assad’s overthrow.
Muallem also took US Secretary of State John Kerry to task for insisting at the opening of the “Geneva II” conference that Assad “will not be part” of any transitional government.
And he repeated earlier assertions that his team would await guidance from Damascus before announcing whether it would attend further talks, tentatively set for February 10.
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