The claim came in a communiqué issued by the ISIL's al-I'tisaam Media Foundation on its Twitter account on January 4.

The statement said it was “the first small payment from the heavy account that is awaiting those wicked criminals".

The ISIL is one of the main militant groups fighting for al-Qaeda in Syria. They have been involved in killing many civilians and army personnel in the Arab country since the war started there after pro-reform protests in 2011 were seized by foreign-backed elements.

While the message focuses on recent events in Aleppo and Syria, the group mentioned the Beirut in the introduction, stating:

"At a time of the security efforts of the Islamic State were able to break the boundaries and penetrate the security system of the Rafidah Party of Satan in Lebanon, and to crush its strongholds in the heart of its home in what is called the security zone in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday, 30 Safar 1435H [2 January 2014], in a first small payment from the heavy account that is awaiting those wicked criminals..."

The Lebanese Army confirmed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber identified as Qotaiba Mohammad al-Satem from the northern region of Wadi Khaled in Akkar.

Families laid to rest two of the victims in Beirut’s southern suburbs including a 17-year-old boy.

SHI/SHI