A powerful bomb explosion has rocked the western part of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The sound of ambulance sirens was heard in the area near the busy shopping district of Hamra Street late on Sunday.

Witnesses and local media said the explosion took place outside headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank, causing damage to the building.

Smoke was seen rising from the Verdun area of Beirut after the blast was heard.

The blast was caused by a two-kilogram bomb placed in a bag by the back wall of the bank office, a Lebanese security source was quoted as saying.



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Lebanese security forces and onlookers stand at the scene of a car bomb explosion in Beirut on June 12, 2016. ©AFP[/caption]

Meanwhile, Lebanon's Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said there were no casualties. "Thank God, there were no injuries," he said.

"Politically it is clear that target was Blom Bank only," he said, adding that the attack had nothing to do with the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The Lebanese Red Cross, however, later announced that two people received minor injuries, the National News Agency reported.



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Lebanese security and emergency services cordon off a damaged building following an explosion near a major bank in the western part of the Lebanese capital Beirut late on June 12, 2016. ©AFP[/caption]

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Daesh terrorists have in the past carried out similar attacks in the Lebanese capital.

More than 40 people were killed and dozens of others wounded after two large explosions, claimed by the Daesh Takfiri militants rocked a security post in the Bourj el-Barajneh area in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital last November.

By Press TV