18 killed in bomb blast at Beirut guerrilla office

A car loaded with TNT exploded near the office of a ranking Palestinian guerrilla leader in West Beirut Thursday, killing at least 18 people and injuring scores of others, first reports said.

Witnesses said the explosion destroyed several buildings in the Palestinian quarter of the city. It was the sixth major explosion in Lebanon in the past two weeks, all apparently aimed against the Palestinians and their Lebanese leftist allies. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday's blast. Lebanese officials have accused Israeli agents of being behind the previous explosions.