KFAR FILA, January 13: An explosion in a village in south Lebanon considered a bastion of Hezbollah wounded three people, two of them young children, on Wednesday, officials said.
The youngsters, one of whom lost a leg in the blast, were on their way to school when the bomb went off.
A hospital official in the town of Nabatiyeh, where the wounded were taken, identified the children as Diana and Hassan Zreik. Their father was identified as Mohammed Zreik.
“Diana, 11, had her left leg amputated and was seriously wounded. Her brother Hassan, 7, suffered slight wounds to his face,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The third victim was identified as Zeinab Hazimeh, 17, who suffered wounds to her hands and face.
Lebanese media said the blast, in the village of Kfar Fila, 15 kilometres (10 miles) east of the coastal city of Sidon, struck in front of a three-storey building that is the home of a Hezbollah member.
A security official identified the owner of the building as Hussein Saeed Hamdan.
He said it was unclear whether Hamdan was the target or was even in the building when the explosion took place.
“We don’t know what kind of explosive it was or who was targeted,” the official said.
Kfar Fila has long been a bastion of Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating 2006 war with Israel.
A Hezbollah official had no immediate comment on the explosion.
—Agencies