Lebanon army defuses small bomb near airport road

The Lebanese army said on Tuesday its sappers had defused a bomb hidden in a wheel near Beirut’s airport road.

An army statement said the bomb, which was discovered after a scrap metal dealer brought the wheel to a shop near Beirut’s airport road, contained 1.2 kg (2.65 lb) of TNT explosives and was equipped with a timing device.

The statement did not say where the dealer found the wheel.

Last week three people were killed in twin bus bombings in a Christian town, a rare fatal attack against Lebanese civilians amid a wave of political killings plaguing the country since the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Tension has been running high since street clashes last month between supporters and opponents of the Western-backed government in which nine people were killed.

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