|PIC1|An explosion has occurred in an empty passenger bus parked in a Christian neighbourhood to the east of Beirut, 4 June. The bomb injured a number of people near the bus, a senior security official has reported to the press.

The attack took place in the residential and industrial Bouchrieh suburb, and is the latest in a string of explosions to have hit the Christian regions of Lebanon over the past two years.

Attacks in and around Beirut have become a common theme since the clashes between Fatah Islam militants and the Lebanese army began in May.

Last month two explosions took place on 21 and 22 May killing a woman and injuring a dozen people in two Beirut neighbourhoods, as the Lebanese army battled militants in a refugee camp near the northern port city of Tripoli.

On 23 May, a bomb exploded in the Druse town of Aley in Beirut's central mountains, wounding at least five people.

In addition, on 26 March 2005, a blast went off in an industrial zone in Bouchrieh, injuring five people and destroying factories there.