Site of suicide bomb attacks in Lebanese village of Qaa
Site of suicide bomb attacks in Lebanese village of QaaReuters

A new wave of suicide bombings struck a Lebanese village near the border with war-ravaged Syria where similar attacks killed five people only hours earlier on Monday, a security source said on Monday evening.

In the latest violence, three suicide bombers riding motorcycles blew themselves up in the center of the mainly Christian village of Al-Qaa in eastern Lebanon, the source told AFP.

A military source told the news agency that the first attacker blew himself up near a church.

The security source said two bombers struck in front of the municipality building.

The Lebanese Red Cross told LBC television that "many" people were wounded in the bombings.

"Clashes are ongoing on the outskirts of the village between the Lebanese army and armed groups," another security source said.

Before dawn, at least four suicide bombers hit the village, the army had said, in attacks the Red Cross said killed five people and wounded 15 others. Three terrorists also died.

Al-Qaa is one of several border posts separating Lebanon and war-torn Syria and is predominantly Christian although one district, Masharia Al-Qaa, is home to Sunni Muslims.

The Islamic State (ISIS) group and the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front have both mounted suicide bomb attacks in Lebanon since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Al-Nusra also joined an incursion into the Lebanese border town of Arsal in 2013 and its fighters captured several Lebanese soldiers when they pulled out.

The Syrian civil war has spilled over into neighboring Lebanon, mainly due to Hezbollah’s involvement in the fighting. Hezbollah's strongholds have come under repeated bomb attacks over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.

AFP contributed to this report.