At least two Syrians were killed and three other people were wounded on Thursday when an explosion rocked Lebanon’s north-eastern town of Arsal on the border with Syria, police and state-media reported.

The blast was caused by an explosive device that was planted in a pick-up truck parked in Arsal’s al-Shafaq neighbourhood, a police source said earlier.

An initial report by police put the number of killed Syrians at three.

The Lebanese state news agency (NNA) later identified the dead as Hawwa al-Zuhouri, 20, and Nour al-Husseiki, 25, and said they hailed from the Syrian border town of al-Qusair.

It added that a Lebanese woman and two other Syrian nationals were also wounded in the blast.

The Voice of Lebanon radio station, quoting a security source, said the blast was the result of an accidental detonation of a suicide vest which al-Husseiki was wearing.

Thousands of Syrian refugees, who fled war in their homeland, live in Arsal. Islamist militants are active in the area.

In 2014, several Lebanese security personnel were abducted by hard-line jihadists after they overran Arsal.

Later, the hard-liners withdrew from the area after clashes with the Lebanese army.

Lebanon has been targeted in the past few years by suicide attacks that mainly targeted Shiite areas, controlled by the Hezbollah movement.

Hezbollah, who are trained and financed by Iran, have been fighting alongside the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising started in Syria in 2011.

Source: eblnews.com