A massive suicide car bomb targeting an army checkpoint in eastern Lebanon near war-torn Syria has killed two soldiers and a civilian.
The bomb is the third this month to hit areas where the powerful Shi'ite Muslim movement Hezbollah, which is helping the Syrian regime battle insurgents, is a dominant force.
The al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, a group named after al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, used Twitter to claim the Saturday attack - in the township of Hermel - indicating it was revenge for Hezbollah's involvement in Syria.
The bombing drew condemnation from the United Nations, Lebanese Sunni Muslim leader Saad Hariri and new Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
A medical official who spoke to AFP said two soldiers and a civilian were killed and that 16 other people, five of them soldiers, were wounded.
The suicide blast ripped through the army checkpoint which lies at the main entrance of Hermel in the Bekaa Valley, and at which cars are routinely stopped and searched by soldiers.
Immediately after the attack, military police imposed security measures in Hermel, as they searched for suspects and evidence, said the National News Agency (NNA).
Hezbollah-dominated parts of eastern Lebanon and southern Beirut have been hit by a wave of recent attacks, since the Shi'ite group acknowledged it sent fighters to Syria.
But until Saturday, they had only killed civilians.
Hezbollah television channel Al-Manar broadcast amateur footage showing a huge fire over the checkpoint, and people screaming in the background.
Prime Minister Salam condemned the attack as "an act of terrorism".
Salam also called on the Lebanese to "rally around the army and the security forces, which have always been and will continue to be a fortress for the nation".
His government brings together Hezbollah and its allies with the Sunni-led bloc of former premier Hariri, who back opposing sides in Syria's war.
