Beirut - At least five people were killed and 30 wounded on Monday in a bomb blast targeting a military bus on the outskirts of the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, Lebanese security sources said. 

Hospital officials said three of those killed were soldiers. At least 30 people who sustained medium and serious injuries had been admitted, among them a 3-year-old boy. 

A Lebanese security source said the owner of car carrying the bomb. The source refused to reveal the name of the owner of the Renault. 

A police officer at the scene told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the bomb went off at the southern entrance of the city as the mini-bus was heading towards the capital Beirut during morning rush-hour. 

A witness said 24 passengers were on board. 

"We suspect a fundamentalist movement, possibly Fatah al-Islam," the officer said. 

Interior Minister Ziad Baroud called for an extraordinary meeting of the Central Security Council Monday afternoon to discuss the Tripoli blast. 

The Lebanese army engaged last year in a 15-week battle with the al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam militia in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near Tripoli. Of the 400 people dead, 168 were soldiers. 

Police and the army immediately cordoned off the area after the blast as forensic experts began gathering evidence. People at the scene were seen wailing and crying, trying to get information about loved ones who were on the bus. 

The force of the blast shattered windows and damaged cars nearby. 

According to initial investigation the bomb was placed in the car and detonated by remote control as the bus drove by. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. 

A similar explosion in August left 14 people dead, nine of them soldiers, in the deadliest attack in the troubled country in three years. 

"Today's blast was stronger than the one that took place in August," the police source said. 

Tripoli has been rocked by deadly sectarian violence in recent months. 

In June and July, 23 people were killed in battles between Sunni Muslim supporters of Lebanon's anti-Syrian ruling majority and and their Damascus-backed rivals from the Alawite community. 

Monday's explosion came as Lebanon's rival factions have been working toward resolving their differences following an 18-month political crisis that brought the country to the brink of civil war in May. 

The Tripoli blast also came two days after a bombing left 17 people dead in the capital of neighbouring Syria, Lebanon's former powerbroker. 

In a separate development, Lebanese media reported Monday that Syrian troops were seen building fortifications in a area which is considered Lebanese territory near the Syrian border with Lebanon. 

The reports said Syrian troops were digging long trenches between Rachaya and Haqel Ashty in the Kfarkouq area near the northern Lebanese border. Syrian troops have remained in the area despite the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in April 2005. 

The reports also said Syrian soldiers were preventing Lebanese shepherds from approaching the area. 

Political sources told the anti-Syrian Al-Mustaqbel newspaper that Syria was trying to occupy Lebanese territory in the border region prior to the completion of the demarcation process, in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and Syrian commitments to the international community to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon. 

Following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri 2005, which Syria was widely blamed for, Damascus, under local and international pressure, ended its 
30-year-long military presence in Lebanon. 

There was no official comment from Syria on the reports, but Lebanese army sources said forces were heading to the area to investigate the reports. (dpa)