Three dead in Lebanon car bomb

At least three people have been killed and 15 injured in a car bomb in the eastern town of Hermel, Lebanon, state media said.  

Local television showed pictures of a large fireball lighting up the area, and burning cars engulfed in flames.

The Lebanese National News Agency initially reported that four people were killed, but later revised the number down to three.

The car bomb occurred near a petrol station near the Hezbollah stronghold near Lebanon's northern border with Syria.

A group calling itself the al-Nusra Front in Lebanon claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in revenge for "massacres" perpetrated by the Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been supporting government forces in Syria.

It is not clear what links the al-Nusra Front in Lebanon has to the al-Nusra Front in Syria - an al-Qaeda-linked force fighting Mr Assad's government

There has been a spike in sectarian tension in Lebanon blamed on the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Both Sunni and Shia militias have been blamed for a series of car bombings which have left scored dead.

Saturday's bombing is the second deadly attack claimed by the group in Hermel within a fortnight.

Five people were killed and 20 others injured in a bombing there on 16 January.

Lebanon has been politically deadlocked since last March, with an alliance led by Sunni former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah unable to agree on a coalition government.