A powerful car bomb destroyed the building housing Israeli military headquarters in the port city of Tyre in south Lebanon this morning. Reports as of noon local time said 25 Israeli soldiers and two other persons described as prisoners had been injured and were receiving treatment at hospitals in Israel.
Unconfirmed reports from various sources said at least eight people were killed and 50 injured in the explosion. Lebanese army sources were quoted as saying the dead and injured included Lebanese and Palestinian civilians who were in the building seeking information about relatives detained by the Israeli authorities.
Soldiers are searching the rubble of the seven-story structure for additional victims but no further information was immediately available. The blast, at 7 a.m. local time, sent the upper floors of the building crashing into the lower floors. All of the injured brought out were on the lower floors. The building served as headquarters of the Israeli military command in south Lebanon, the military administration, military police and border police units. The area is heavily guarded by border police and all approaching vehicles are routinely stopped and searched.
After the explosion the coastal road was closed to traffic. Vehicles were halted at the Rash Hanikra border crossing.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
