Syrians bombed in south Lebanon

Unknown assailants bombed a compound in southern Lebanon housing agricultural workers from Syria, security forces said Wednesday. Lebanese forces said it appeared dynamite was tossed into a compound in Lebanon's South Governorate that's housed Syrian agricultural workers for 20 years. The incident happened in the pre-dawn hours and there were no reports of injuries, The Daily Star news service in Lebanon reports. Lebanese troops are on scene investigating the blast. The new service described the compound as plastered with posters of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Conflict in neighboring Syria has entered its second year despite the presence of unarmed U.N. observers monitoring a cease-fire that was to take effect in April. Roughly a dozen Lebanese men were kidnapped in Aleppo in Syria early this week. Ali Ammar, a lawmaker from Hezbollah, said the Shiite movement had assurances they would be released soon. The men were allegedly abducted while on their way home from visiting Shiite holy sites in Iran. A relative who spoke with The Daily Star on condition of anonymity said "an extreme Syrian fundamentalist group" had abducted the men in hopes of securing a prisoner swap with the Syrian government. Ammar said he was seeking help from Turkey and other countries in the region "to pressure the gunmen to free the hostages."