While I feel terrible for the the innocent Lebanonese who were caught up in this attack... This reaction from Hezbollah really comes off as "How dare you conduct terrorism against us! We conduct terrorism against you, not the other way around!"The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, says radical Sunni Muslim militants bombed a Beirut suburb, killing 22 people.
Mr Nasrallah's Shia group supports the government of President Assad in the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
"I will go myself to Syria if it is necessary in the battle against the takfiris (Sunni radicals)," Mr Nasrallah said, on his own TV channel.
A Syrian rebel group said it carried out Thursday's bombing.
Hundreds of people were injured in the evening attack claimed by the Battalions of Ayesha in a Shia area of Beirut known to be a stronghold of Hezbollah.
Mr Nasrallah urged his followers not to react blindly to the bombing which, he said, was aimed at drawing Lebanon into Syria's conflict.
He said if the attackers' aim had been to deter Hezbollah from fighting alongside the regime in Syria, his movement would double its forces there.
The site of the blast is close to the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex, where Hezbollah often holds mass rallies.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said officials were investigating if the van believed to be carrying the explosives had been driven by a suicide bomber.
The explosion comes a month after another car bomb wounded more than 50 people in the same district of Beirut.
Fighters from Hezbollah were instrumental in a strategic victory by Syrian government forces in Qusair, close to the border with Lebanon, in early June.
In a video message posted online, the Battalions of Ayesha suggested they had been behind July's bomb blast. The group threatened to carry out more attacks, referring to Hezbollah strongholds as "colonies of Iran".
Events in Syria are putting Lebanon's fragile peace in jeopardy, threatening the equilibrium which has held since the end of the civil war more than 20 years ago.
Many Lebanese politicians blamed Israel in the wake of Thursday's blast, but Israeli President Shimon Peres denied culpability during a joint news conference with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"I was surprised," Mr Peres said. "Why should (they) look to Israel? (They have) a Hezbollah that collects bombs, that goes and kills people in Syria without the permission of the Lebanese government."
Lebanese citizens run past a burned cars and shops at the site of a car bomb explosion.
Let me be clear and say I don't condone this attack. This wasn't some noble mission against a terrorist group, this was a band of manic blowing up a suburb. They didn't strike a blow against Hezbollah, they killed a bunch of regular people just trying to make lives for themselves.
I'm just not feeling Hezbollah of all people is justified to scream about this kinda stuff.