Blast kills at least two in Beirut

BEIRUT: At least two people were killed late Saturday in a mysterious blast that shook Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, a security official said, amid reports it could have targeted the Palestinian Hamas movement.

"At least two people have been killed and a number of others injured in an explosion in the southern suburbs" of Beirut where the Shiite Hezbollah movement has its headquarters, the official told media.

"The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined," the official added. Earlier the official national news agency said the blast could have been aimed at a member of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Lebanon.

The blast was "the result of three bombs placed under a car whose owner is said to be a member of Hamas," the agency said, adding that two people were wounded in the explosion.

But in a terse report, quoting unnamed security officials, Hezbollah's television said the "blast took place in an office of the Hamas movement causing casualties." It did not give further details.

Hamas spokesman Raafat Murra told media that the Palestinian Islamic movement has an office in the area where the blast occurred but could not immediately say if there were casualties among members of the group.