Salafi offensive

The long feared offensive by the Salafis — a varient of Sunni Islam that considers the Shia to be appostates — has arrived.

The BBC has the story:

"A statement saying the Fatah al-Islam militant group was behind a bombing at an army post in Lebanon which killed a soldier has been sent to news agencies.

"The authenticity of the statement cannot be verified.

"It said Saturday's attack was in revenge for last year's offensive against the group by the Lebanese army. The army post struck by the blast is at Abdeh, in northern Lebanon, near the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp where the offensive was launched."

I have posted a short history of the origins of the creed on the Shemali blog, and assess their impact on the struggle in Iraq in an article for the International Socialist journal.