Beirut blast kills Lebanese security officer

BEIRUT, June 24 (AFP): An overnight suicide blast in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah's main bastion, killed a security officer who had tried to stop the bomber, a Lebanese security source told AFP on Tuesday.

The explosion happened at around midnight local time (2100 GMT Monday) near an army checkpoint and a cafe where football fans were watching a World Cup match.

An army statement earlier said a suicide attacker driving a white Mercedes "blew himself up at an army checkpoint at the Tayuneh roundabout (in southern Beirut), wounding several civilians".