Lebanese troops kill man strapped with explosives
SIDON, Lebanon, May 31 (Reuters) - Lebanese soldiers shot dead a man carrying explosives strapped around his body as he left a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon, security sources said.
They said soldiers manning a checkpoint at the entrance of Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon stopped a car and when they asked its occupants for identification papers, a man fled on foot.
The soldiers opened fire and killed the man only to find the explosives as they approached his body, the sources said. There were no details on the identity of the man or his possible motive or target.
Ain al-Hilweh camp is a hotbed for Muslim militants, some of whom are believed linked to or supporters of al Qaeda.
Earlier in the day, an explosion killed a Lebanese soldier at a guard post to the Abdeh military base near the city of Tripoli in north Lebanon.
It was not clear whether the dawn blast was an attack or an accident, the sources said. (Writing by Nadim Ladki, editing by Mary Gabriel)
