An bomb in a suitcase has ripped through a building in the town of Aley, in the mountains east of the Lebanese capital.

A senior security official said five people had been wounded in the explosion which was at the main roundabout of the resort on Wednesday evening.

Aley is a predominantly Druze town, popular with Arab holidaymakers as a summer resort.

The blast was the third in Beirut and the surrounding area since fighting broke out between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Sunday.

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"The explosive charge was placed in a small suitcase near the entrance of a residential building," the security official told the AFP news agency.

Police officials said a bomb had gone off just metres away from the main government building.

The blast damaged several buildings and shops along the street, which was immediately cordoned off by police.

The first explosion struck Beirut's Christian district of Ashrafiyeh on Sunday night, killing one woman, and the second occurred in Verdun, a predominately Sunni Muslim quarter of the capital, on Monday wounding 10 people.

A faxed statement purportedly from Fatah al-Islam claimed the group had carried out the first two bombings, but a spokesman later denied any involvement.