Powerful explosion near bank in Lebanese capital

BEIRUT — A blast caused by a bomb rocked the western part of the Lebanese capital late Sunday, with the interior minister saying a major bank had been targeted. 

An AFP correspondent saw almost all the entire glass facade of a branch of BLOM BANK, one of the country's largest, blown out, with debris littering the ground. 

Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq told AFP that a bomb containing about 3-4kg of explosives had been "placed behind the back wall of BLOM BANK”.

 "It is clear that the bank was the target," he said. 

Mashnuq gave no further details, but in comments to LBCI television channel he said the blast was "different" from other explosions that have occurred in Lebanon over the past few years. 

He said there were "no victims", but a civil defence official said one person had been lightly wounded. 

BLOM BANK Director General Saad Al Azhari told reporters that no threats had been received by the bank. 

There was confusion over where the bomb had been placed. 

Lebanon's National News Agency reported that the explosive device had been left under a car, but police Chief General Ibrahim Basbous said it had been put in a plant pot. 

The AFP correspondent also saw damaged cars near the scene of the blast in the Verdun business district before an army patrol arrived and kept reporters back. 

Twin bombings in the densely populated neighbourhood of Burj Al Barajneh in November last year killed 44 people. They were claimed by the Daesh terrorist group. 

Burj Al Barajneh is in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the powerful Shiite militant movement Hezbollah holds sway. 

Last year's twin bombings came after a string of attacks in 2013 and 2014 targeting the group by Sunni extremist groups which cited Hizbollah's military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.