• FBI releases new photos of suspects in Boston Marathon bombing

    FBI.gov

    The FBI released this image of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing case early on Friday.

    Pete Williams, Erin McClam and Tracy Connor, NBC News writes

    The FBI released new photos of two "armed and extremely dangerous" suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing early Friday.

    The pair — who were armed with explosives and guns — battled authorities in a Boston suburb until cops took one of the men into custody, and the other fled, sources said. Officials later said the the suspect taken into custody died.

    The suspect seen wearing the white baseball cap in the photos was still on the run, according to officials.

    Earlier, Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers asked for tips, adding: "Somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members,"

    "Though it may be difficult, the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us.

    "We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous," DesLauriers added. "No one should approach them...If you see these men, contact law enforcement."

    The FBI is asking the public's help to identify two suspects: one wearing a dark hat, and another wearing a white hat, who were both spotted carrying black backpacks near the scene of the bombing. One was observed setting down a backpack at the site of the second blast. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

    The images showed two men in baseball caps and dark jackets who were seen walking together through the crowd at Monday's iconic race. New headshots were released by the FBI at 2 a.m. ET on Friday.

    Law enforcement sources tell NBC News that unreleased portions of the surveillance video show the suspect in the white hat working his way out of the crowd, then raising his arm to apparently lift the backpack off his shoulder, but the view is obstructed by others. He sets the backpack down, working his way out of the crowd, then pausing briefly just before the first bomb explodes. 

    He then calmly begins to work his way away from the second device, sources said. Seconds later, the second bomb explodes, and a terrible scene of carnage is apparent.

    Seconds after that explosion, a photograph now in hands of the FBI appears to show the suspect in the white hat moving away amid the smoke rising midway down the block behind him.

    Two sources said they are looking for repeat names amid the flood of calls to the investigators’ tip line to give them leads on who the suspects are.

    FBI.gov

    This image, which was released by the FBI early Friday, shows two Boston Marathon bombing suspects together.

    The man in the dark cap with a black backpack is being called Suspect No. 1. The other man, Suspect No. 2, is wearing a white cap backward and carrying a lighter-colored backpack.

    The public was asked to call a hotline, 1-800-CALL-FBI, with tips or visit the bureau's website, bostonmarathontips.fbi.gov.

    "No bit of information, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, is too small for us to see," DesLauriers said. "Each piece moves us forward toward justice."

    Following the release of the photos, people had already started calling in names.

    Investigators zeroed in on one of the men within the last day or so, he said. By examining photos and videos of the marathon crowd, they were able to identify a second suspect.

    FBI

    These are among the photos of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing released by the FBI.

    "They appear to be associated," he said.

    Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick echoed the FBI's call for the public to help. "Pass along to law enforcement any information about the suspects that you may have," he said.

    The FBI released no other information about the probe, including the motive for the bombing, which killed three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and wounded 176.

    Investigators are casting a wide net for clues. The FBI was canvassing hobby stores in the Boston area to determine whether electrical components in the bombs were bought there, NBC News learned.

    Forensic work from the blast zone has helped authorities identify major components of the bombs.

    They were housed in metal containers — at least one an everyday kitchen pressure cooker — and studded with metal, including fine nails or brads, to make the devices more lethal. A battery pack typically used on toy cars and a circuit board were also recovered.

    FBI

    The FBI is looking for these two men, identified as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

    But the videos are the biggest break in the case yet. They were unveiled hours after President Obama attended an interfaith prayer service to reassure both the injured and the city.

    “You will run again,” he declared at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, less than a mile from the finish line. “Your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act.”

    As of Thursday morning, 56 patients were still being treated in hospitals. That was down from 65 on Wednesday.

    “In general, people are getting better, and we are happy with their progress,” Dr. Peter Burke, chief of trauma at Boston Medical Center, told reporters early Thursday.

    The three people killed in the attack were Lingzi Lu, a Boston University graduate student; 8-year-old Martin Richard of Boston; and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell of Medford, a Boston suburb.

    A trauma surgeon said that doctors have pulled fragments as large as 2 inches, including pieces of wood, concrete and plastic, from the bodies of the injured, in addition to metal shrapnel from the bombs.

    NBC News’ John Bailey, Richard Esposito and Michael Isikoff contributed to this report.

    NBC's Brian Williams and Pete Williams report on the FBI's release of images of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

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    This story was originally published on Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:50 PM EDT

  • Beirut car bomb blast kills top intelligence official

    Hundreds were rushed to emergency rooms after an explosion left a 15-foot crater in one of Beirut's nicest neighborhoods. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    NBC News staff and wire reports writes

    Updated at 4:43 p.m. ET: BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A huge car bomb explosion in Beirut on Friday killed a top Lebanese security official whose investigations implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri seven years ago.

    The rush-hour bomb in the center of the Lebanese capital killed eight people and wounded about 80 others, heightening fears that Syria's war is spilling over into Lebanon.

    Among the dead was Wissam al-Hassan, the head of a Lebanese intelligence agency who had also uncovered a recent bomb plot that led to the arrest of a pro-Syrian Lebanese politician, a Lebanese official said.

    NBC's Paul Nassar describes the scene after a bomb killed 8 people in Lebanon Friday.

    Al-Hassan was a close aide to Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a 2005 bomb attack in downtown Beirut. Al-Hassan's investigation into Hariri's death uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the killing.

    Follow this story at BreakingNews.com

    It was also not clear if the explosion targeted any political figure in Lebanon's divided community but it occurred at a time of heightened tension between Lebanese factions on opposite sides of the Syria conflict.

     

    Ambulances rushed to the scene in the Ashafriyeh district, a mostly Christian area, as smoke rose from the area. 

    The explosion ripped through the street where the office of the anti-Damascus Christian Phalange Party is located near Sassine Square.

    Reuters

    Phalange leader Sami al-Gemayel, a staunch opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a member of parliament, condemned the attack.

    "Let the state protect the citizens. We will not accept any procrastination in this matter, we cannot continue like that. We have been warning for a year. Enough," said Gemayel, whose brother was assassinated in November 2006.

    Several cars were set on fire by the explosion and the front of a multi-story building was badly damaged. Residents ran about in panic looking for relatives while others helped carry the wounded to ambulances, Reuters reported. 

    Slideshow: Bombing in Beirut

    Reuters

    Huge blast explodes in a central Beirut street injures dozens, kills at least eight.

    Launch slideshow

    Pope tells Christians in Beirut: 'Be peacemakers'

    Security forces blanketed the area.


    Witness Danny Rizkallah told NBC News the blast took place close to the headquarters of a Lebanese opposition political party with links to Syria rebels and close to the scene of the 1982 assassination of then president-elect Bachir Gemayel. The affluent, largely Christian, district is also home to the American University of Science and Technology (AUST).

    He said he was having lunch nearby when the blast lifted him from his chair. “It was an incredibly powerful explosion,” he said. “I knew immediately it was a bomb because it has such a different sound to shelling.”

    “I rushed around the corner to see what happened there were lots of people injured by broken glass from the windows of nearby stores. It did a great deal of damage to nearby buildings and there was a lot of glass.

    Hasan Shaaban / Reuters

    Burning cars and damages are seen at the site of an explosion in Ashafriyeh, central Beirut, October 19, 2012.

    “For this to happen is shocking because we really thought this sort of thing had stopped in Beirut, and for it to happen in the Christian district is also very unusual. I really don’t know who is behind this, or why. Our politics is very messed-up.”

    The last bombing in Beirut was in 2008 when three people were killed in an explosion that damaged a U.S. diplomatic car. 

    U.S. officials are condemning the attack "in the strongest terms," calling the blast a terrorist attack.

    "We condemn this act of terrorism," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

    "There is no justification for such violence," she added. "We obviously express our heartfelt sympathies for the families and the loved ones of those who were killed and injured, and we stand by the people of Lebanon and renew our commitment to a stable, sovereign, and independent Lebanon."

    National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement there is "no justification for using assassination as a political tool." He says the U.S. will stand with the Lebanese government to bring to justice those responsible "for this barbaric attack."

    Sunni-Shiite tensions
    Tension between Sunnis and Shiites has been rumbling in Lebanon ever since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war but reignited after the Syria conflict erupted.

    It reached its peak when Hariri, a Sunni, was killed in 2005. Hariri supporters accused Syria and then Hezbollah of killing him -- a charge they both deny. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder.

    Clashes over Syrian conflict in Lebanon leave ten dead

    Hezbollah's political opponents, who have for months accused it of aiding Assad's forces -- have warned that its involvement in Syria could ignite sectarian tension of the civil war. 

    At least nine people die as Sunni Muslims and Alawites fight for a second day. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

    However fighting had broken out this year between supporters and opponents of Assad in the northern city of Tripoli.

    Reuters, The Associated Press and NBC News' Paul Nassar contributed to this report.

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