An explosion was heard late Wednesday near the Lebanese southern port city of Sidon, a local security source said. dpa reported.
Residents in the area also observed red flames in conjunction with the explosion, which came from the sea, the source said.
He added that "it might have been a naval mine."
"Israeli helicopters were seen hovering over the area when the explosion took place," the source said, without providing further information.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, the Lebanese army dismantled what a spokesman said were Israeli espionage devices placed on Mount Sannine, north-east of Beirut, and on the Barouk Mountain, east of the capital.
"Unveiling these two systems came as a result of information obtained by the Intelligence Directorate from resistance (Hezbollah) sources," said a statement released by the Lebanese Army Command.
It added that the device on Mount Sannine consisted of visual emission and reception parts. The second device was "more complicated," it added, without elaborating.
The Shiite movement Hezbollah has accused Israel of having infiltrated and deployed spies in the Lebanese telecommunications sector over the past few years.
Wednesday's discovery of the two alleged espionage devices came amid high tension in the country over impending indictments by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
The indictments are widely expected to implicate some Hezbollah members in the assassination, a charge the group has completely rejected, coupled with a warning that it "will cut off the hand" of anyone who names any member of the group.
...