Report: Hezbollah man killed in blast

An explosion occurred Monday evening in the home of senior Hezbollah member Abdel Nasser Issa, in the southern Lebanon village of Tayr Filsi, on the outskirts of Tyre, local media reported.

The Reuters news agency quoted local security sources as saying five people were killed in the blast, including the Hezbollah man and his son. Hezbollah denied anyone was killed in the explosion.

The organization's spokesman, Ibrahim al-Moussawi, later said that only one person was seriously hurt and that the circumstances of the blast were being investigated. The Associated Press reported of one person who died in the explosion.

Hezbollah said in a statement on the website of its al-Manar TV station that an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the blast, which it said took place in the garage of a home belonging to one of its members.

The village where the explosion took place is located near the southern bank of the Litani River. According to the official Lebanese news agency, the building was completely destroyed in the explosion. Ambulances were dispatched to the area and evacuated the injured to a hospital in Nabatiya.

The French news agency quoted a local security sources as saying that Issa was injured while trying to defuse a missile left in the area from the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Following the incident the Lebanese army deployed large forces in the village, and security sources estimated that the blast was the result of an ammunition detonation.

'Violation of Resolution 1701'

The Israel Defense Forces filed a complaint with the United Nations Interim Force in Southern Lebanon, demanding an investigation into the explosion. Army sources said the incident proved that Hezbollah continued to bring weapons and ammunition into southern Lebanon and hide them in houses, in violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.

UNIFIL said it was aware of an explosion and was in contact with the Lebanese army. "We are looking into the circumstances of the incident," UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said.

The Lebanese army issued a statement saying an Israeli reconnaissance plane flew over south Lebanon earlier Monday, but made no mention of the explosion, according to the state news agency report.

Several months ago, Israel filed an official grievance with the UN Security Council after a Hezbollah ammunition cache, hidden in an apartment building in the southern Lebanese town of Khirbat Slim, exploded during the summer.