Two bombs targeting a nightclub and a liquor store exploded early Wednesday in the Lebanese city of Tyre (sour), one of the few areas in South Lebanon where alcohol is available for sale.
No casualties were reported in the 5:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) blasts, but they caused severe property damage , a security official told AFP.
The army cordoned off the area and launched an investigation.
One of the bombs targeted the Elissa Queen Hotel on the seafront of the scenic Mediterranean coastal town. The hotel and nearby buildings were immediately evacuated.
The hotel nightclub is a favorite with UN peacekeepers deployed in South Lebanon, an AFP correspondent in the town said.
The second bomb struck a shop selling alcohol in the Christian quarters of Tyre, a multi-confessional city especially popular with tourists during the summer season.
A string of liquor stores in South Lebanon were forced to close this year in the face of a campaign by Hezbollah to rid the South of alcohol.
Alcohol is widely available in multi-confessional Lebanon, which is considered the most liberal country in the Arab world.
It is banned, however, in areas under the control of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
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