SHEHABIYEH: A series of explosions on Friday ripped through a house that was being used as an arms depot in south Lebanon, an area considered a Hezbollah stronghold, the state news agency reported.
The blasts tore through the three-storey building on the outskirts of the town of Shehabiyeh, just south of the Litani River, a area under surveillance of the the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the National News Agency said.
A man living near the building told AFP that it had been rented out by Hezbollah.
An army spokesman confirmed that there had been three explosions in the house but said the nature and cause of the blasts was still unclear.
Troops cordoned off the area while bomb disposal experts were called in, an AFP correspondent said. Ambulances also arrived at the site.
Journalists were blocked from accessing the site by Hezbollah members in their party’s military garb and signature yellow berets, the correspondent said.
UNIFIL said it had no information on the explosion, while a helicopter bearing the force’s blue logo could be seen hovering briefly over the area before leaving.
"At this time all I’m able to tell you is that we are coordinating with the Lebanese army and we have sent patrols to the location," UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh told AFP.
An arms cache believed to belong to Hezbollah exploded last summer in an abandoned house in the southern village of Khirbet Selm, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Israeli border.
In October 2009, a rocket exploded in a garage in Tayr Felsay, a village some 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Tyre.
Israel, which fought a devastating 2006 war with Hezbollah, has repeatedly accused the Shiite militant group of stockpiling its arsenal in residential areas.
UN reports on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the 2006 war, regularly express concern over the continued presence of Hezbollah arms in south Lebanon.
