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Large explosion rocks east Beirut Scores killed in Lebanon fighting
(about 1 hour later)
A large explosion has been reported in an eastern district of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamist gunmen from a Palestinian refugee camp has killed at least 40 people in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.
The blast has sent a plume of black smoke into the air. Its cause is not yet known. Some 15 fighters from the radical Fatah Islam group and 23 Lebanese soldiers died in intense battles, reports said.
According to a Lebanese TV station, the explosion took place Ashrafieh - a largely Christian part of Beirut. At least two civilians were also killed and a further 40 reportedly hurt in the worst internal fighting Lebanon has seen since the civil war ended in 1990.
Earlier on Sunday, at least 40 people were killed as Lebanese troops battled Palestinian Islamist militants in the northern city of Tripoli. Later on Sunday, a large explosion sent a plume of black smoke above Beirut.
A woman is reported to have died in the blast in the largely Christian eastern district of Ashrafieh. At least 10 people are said to have been hurt.
The cause of the blast is not yet known.
'Unprovoked aggression'
Fighting erupted on Sunday morning after security forces raided a building in the northern city of Tripoli to arrest suspects in a bank robbery.
After resisting arrest, militants said to belong to Fatah Islam attacked army posts at the entrances to the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, which is home to some 30,000 displaced Palestinians.
Emergency workers evacuated the injured from the blast in Beirut
Several hours later, a large force of Lebanese troops hit back at Fatah Islam, bombarding the camp and storming a building on the outskirts of Tripoli.
Two civilians were killed and 40 were injured, AFP news agency reported. A Lebanese army spokesman said another 27 soldiers were injured.
The Nahr el-Bared camp has been under scrutiny since two bus bombings in a Christian area of Beirut in February, blamed on Fatah Islam militants based in the camp.
Fatah Islam spokesmen portrayed the fighting as unprovoked aggression by the Lebanese army.
"The problem began with repeated arrests of our brothers in Tripoli. We've always defended Sunnis in Lebanon," a spokesman called Abu Salim told al-Jazeera TV.
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, said Fatah Islam was making a deliberate attempt to destabilise the country.
Tribunal concerns
Lebanon is home to more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom fled their homes when Israel was created in 1948.
The military is banned from entering the Nahr el-Bared camp under a 38-year-old deal.
Fatah Islam is a radical Palestinian splinter group alleged to have links with al-Qaeda. Lebanese officials also believe it has ties to Syrian intelligence.
Other Palestinian groups have distanced themselves from Fatah Islam, which emerged last year after splitting from a Syrian-backed Palestinian splinter group, says the BBC's Beirut correspondent Jim Muir.
Some link the eruption in violence to moves at the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, two years ago, our correspondent says.
Syria is against the tribunal, and Lebanese government officials have accused Damascus of trying to stir up trouble to head it off.