Car bomb strikes border town in Lebanon

A car bomb has struck a Lebanese town close to the Syrian border during rush hour, killing at least two people and wounding 15, security officials said.

It was the latest in a wave of attacks to hit Lebanon in recent months as the civil war in Syria increasingly spills over into its smaller neighbour.

The bomb went off in the centre of the predominantly Shiite town of Hermel, the officials said. One of the dead was removed from a car near the blast and ambulances were taking others to hospital.

The explosion took place near two banks and close to the town’s main government building where people go to get official documents.

The state-run National News Agency said the blast killed three people.

Hermel’s mayor, Sobhi Saqr, told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV that the attack occurred as students were on their way to schools and while employees were going to work.

“It was a very big blast,” Mr Saqr said.

The violence in Lebanon has targeted Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods, further stoking sectarian tensions that are already running high as each community in the country lines up behind its brethren on opposing sides of the war in Syria.