A Syrian national was killed on Tuesday in the town of Halat, north of Beirut, and the security services estimated that he was setting up an explosive device.

A Syrian national was killed on Tuesday in the town of Halat, north of Beirut, and the security services estimated that he was setting up an explosive device.

The State Commissioner to the Military Court inspected the house where the blast took place in the morning.

“We are still in the initial stage of the investigation,” Judge Saqr Saqr said after he came out of the house that lies near the coastal town of Jbeil.

“There is the smell of gunpowder,” he said, when asked about more details by a reporter at the scene.

The Army Command later announced that the blast was caused by the explosion of a 250-gram explosive.

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch arrested his brother, in addition to his brother's wife and friend who live with him in the same room, National News Agency said.

The NNA identified the dead man as Moussa Mustafa Ibrahim al-Ali. It added that the force of the blast turned his body into shreds.