A massive Israeli air strike on central Beirut has killed at least 15 people, Lebanese officials say - in the latest attack on the capital amid an escalation of Israel's campaign against Hezbollah, reports BBC.
The strike happened without warning at about 04:00 (02:00 GMT) on Saturday, and was an attempt to assassinate a senior Hezbollah official, Israeli media reported.
The attack was heard and felt across the city, and destroyed at least one eight-storey residential building in the densely populated Basta district.
Lebanon's National News Agency said a so-called bunker buster bomb was used, a type of weapon previously used by Israel to kill senior Hezbollah figures, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.
All day, emergency workers used heavy machinery to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies.
The Lebanese health ministry said more than 60 people had been wounded, and that the number of victims was expected to rise as DNA tests would be carried out on body parts that had been recovered.
"It was a very horrible explosion. All the windows and glasses were over me, my wife and my children. My home now is a battlefield," said 55-year-old Ali Nassar, who lived in a nearby building.
"Even if one person is hiding here… Should you destroy buildings where people are sleeping inside? Is it necessary to kill all the people for one person? Or we’re not humans? That's what I’m asking."
END/SZA
