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Another blast in Lebanon, Hezbollah arms depot blamed

Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed news channel says the blast occurred in the home of a local Hezbollah commander and it was an arms cache that detonated.  

By AP and World Israel News Staff

An explosion shook a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, sending thick gray smoke billowing over the village.

Reports on reasons for the blast are mixed. The Associated Press says the cause was not clear but other media are reporting it was an arms cache belonging to the terror group that detonated due to a technical malfunction. A Lebanon-based paper linked to Hezbollah reports it was a gas station fire but other Lebanese papers say there’s no gas station in the area of the blast.

Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed news channel says the blast occurred in the home of a local Hezbollah commander and it was an arms cache that detonated.

The blast took place in the southern village of Ain Qana, above the port city of Sidon. An official with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah confirmed there was an explosion but declined to give further details.

A security official told Reuters that there were injured.

Another local Hezbollah official would not confirm or deny any casualties from the explosion. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements.

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Members of the terrorist group imposed a security cordon, barring journalists from reaching the area.

Footage broadcast by the local Al Jadeed station showed damage to buildings.

The explosion comes seven weeks after the massive explosion at Beirut port, the result of nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonating. The explosion killed nearly 200 people, injured 6,500 and damaged tens of thousands of buildings in the capital, Beirut.

It is still not clear what caused the initial fire that ignited the chemicals, and so far no one has been held accountable.