Israeli air strike kills 15 in Beirut

AT least 15 people are dead after a massive Israeli strike flattened residential buildings in central Beirut in the early hours of yesterday.

- Berny Torre

An eight-storey block was destroyed as explosions shook the densely populated capital at 4am local time.

There were no warnings before the air strike that left more than 60 people wounded. The number of victims is expected to rise as DNA tests are carried out on remains retrieved from the rubble by emergency workers using heavy machinery.

It is thought a high-level Hezbollah official was the target of the strikes amid reports that a bunker-buster bomb was used in the attack.

Israeli forces deployed this type of weapon to kill former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September but neither the Israeli military nor Hezbollah had commented last night.

Ali Nassar, 55, who lived near the high-rise block in Basta, said: "It was a very horrible explosion.

"All the windows and glasses were over me, my wife and my children.

My home now is a battlefield. One person is hiding here.