Hezbollah member injured in east Lebanon blast

A member of Shiite militant faction Hezbollah was injured on Monday when a bomb went off in the eastern town of Arsal on the border with Syria, a Lebanese security source said.

"A bomb exploded under the car of Hassan Ezzeddin in central Arsal," the source told Anadolu Agency.

According to a medical source, Ezzeddin sustained serious injuries and has been rushed to hospital.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the blast.

Arsal has been the focal point for fighting between members of militant Sunni Islamist groups and Lebanese security forces, as well as Hezbollah.

In August, the Islamic State group and the Al-Nusra Front – both of which are fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government – captured at least 21 Lebanese soldiers near the border with war-torn Syria.

The two militant groups demand the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters in Syria as well as the release of other fighters from Lebanese prisons, but so far, Beirut has repeatedly refused to negotiate. Four hostages have been killed since they were abducted.

Last week, the Lebanese army reportedly arrested one of the wives of the Islamic State (IS) militant group's leader, along with one of his sons on the border with Syria.

The Lebanese authorities have also arrested a woman married to Abu Ali al-Shishani, a former member of al-Nusra Front who has since joined IS.

Since 2013, Hezbollah has fought alongside Syrian government troops against the fractured opposition movement.