IS claims responsibility for deadly Beirut blasts

The so-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two suicide bomb attacks in Beirut that left at least 43 people dead and more than 240 wounded.

The bombings took place in a crowded residential district in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs - a stronghold of the Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah.

The attacks come at a time that Hezbollah is stepping up involvement in the Syrian civil war, sending hundreds of fighters to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the conflict with mostly Sunni insurgents, including IS.

The action has prompted Sunni Islamist threats against the Iran-backed group.

Thursday's blasts struck a community centre and a nearby bakery in the commercial and residential area of Borj al-Barajneh, according to security sources.

In a statement posted online by its supporters, Islamic State said its members blew up a bike loaded with explosives - with a second suicide bomber waiting for crowds to gather before detonating his own device.

At least 37 people have been killed in two suicide bombings in Beirut, Lebanon's interior minister has said.

Dozens of others were injured after explosions ripped through a busy area of a southern suburb in the capital city, which has been a stronghold of the country's Hezbollah Shi'a Islamist militant group.

Local media has said the attacks happened just outside a Shi'ite centre in the Borj al-Barajneh area.

Interior minister Nouhad Machnouk also said the attackers were on foot and wore explosive vests.