Beirut car bomb blast

This footage from a local TV station shows the immediate aftermath of an explosion in southern Beirut earlier today in which at least 38 people were injured.

The blast occurred in a busy suburb of the city that is controlled by the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

Israel's defence minister Moshe Ya'alon said the Syrian crisis has "spilled over" to Lebanon because of Hezbollah's involvement in the war.

Mr Yaalon said: "The Syrian civil war has long spilled over into Lebanon as a result of Hezbollah involvement in Syria fighting.

"We see inside Lebanon, in Tripoli, Sidon and also in Beirut, from reports today of a car bomb that exploded there".

"We are not dealing with this and not intervening in it".

At least 38 people were injured when a car bomb exploded in a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, Reuters reported, citing a hospital official.

Lebanon's Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who toured the site of the blast, said the attack was aimed at creating a Sunni-Shi'ite "sectarian strife", but would not succeed.

He said, "I am at pains to describe what I have seen. I don't know what the aim of this action is. Of course, what they are trying to do is to create a sectarian strife ... what I can assure you is that neither Sunnis or Shi'ites will be dragged into it no matter what happens".

Reports that one person had been killed in the car park where the explosion took place could not be confirmed by hospital officials, the news agency added.

At least 18 people were injured when a car bomb detonated in a southern Beirut Hezbollah stronghold this morning, security sources told Reuters.

The sources were unable to confirm initial reports from medics at the scene that "several people" were killed in the blast.

The area of the blast, which damaged cars and buildings, has now been cordoned off.

Fires raged from dozens of cars which were set ablaze in the car park where the vehicle rigged with explosives was left.

Several people have been killed or wounded after a car bomb detonated in an area of southern Beirut controlled by the Shi'ite group Hezbollah, Reuters reported.

Tensions in Lebanon have been high following the intervention of Hezbollah in support of President Bashar al Assad, whose forces are fighting opposition forces.

The power of the blast shattered windows and damaged several buildings while clouds of black smoke cover the busy residential area of Bir el Abed.

It was unclear who was behind today's explosion.

Several people have been killed and wounded after a car bomb exploded in an area of southern Beirut controlled by the Shi'ite group Hezbollah this morning, Reuters reported.

Hezbollah has sealed off the site of the explosion - a shopping mall in the Bir el Abed district.

A loud explosion struck a neighborhood in south Beirut this morning, Lebanese security officials said.

The nature of the explosion in the suburb of Bir el Abed, a stronghold of the Shi'ite group Hezbollah, was not immediately clear, the unnamed officials told the Associated Press.

Some Syrian rebel groups have threatened to strike in Lebanon after Hezbollah joined Syrian President Bashar al Assad's troops in their battle against opposition fighters.