Grenade blast hits civilians

Beirut: Unknown assailants hurled a hand grenade near a Lebanese police patrol in Beirut on Sunday night, wounding two police officers and two civilians, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman could not say whether the patrol was the target of the blast in the mainly Sunni Muslim Barbir district of the capital. Local media said the grenade was thrown by a man on a motorcycle.

The Beirut area was rocked by three much larger blasts last week, killing one person and wounding 20.

The explosions came as the Lebanese army is battling Al Qaida-inspired militants from Fatah Al Islam group at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. At least 78 people have been killed in the fighting that erupted on May 20.