A weapons depot belonging to the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon exploded on Tuesday, sending shockwaves through the nation just weeks after a similar explosion decimated the port of Beirut.
An unnamed security source told the Reuters news agency the blast, which generated a billowing column of thick black smoke, was caused by a “technical error.”
Lebanese media reported several injuries.
Hezbollah sources told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International TV news channel that no one was injured in the explosion which occurred in the town of Ain Qana, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Lebanese State TV, while stressing the cause was not known, also implied Israel may have been involved.
“The explosion that occurred in a house in the town of Ain Qana…coincided with the intensive flight of hostile Israeli military and espionage aircraft, which had not left the airspace of Nabatiyeh and Iqlim al-Tuffah since the morning,” the Lebanese National News Agency reported according to a translation by The Times of Israel.
While the blast “created turmoil and panic among citizens…its damage was limited to splitting open some houses and shattering glass,” the report said.