Suicide bomber explodes at Beirut hotel during security raid

A suicide bomber detonated himself at a hotel in central Beirut on Wednesday during a raid by Lebanese security forces at the premises.

Four security officers were wounded in the attack, which took place on the second floor of the Duroy Hotel close to the Saudi Arabian embassy.

Lebanon’s Interior Ministry said the suspected bomber was a Saudi national. Security personnel detained a second Saudi individual during the raid and are pursuing a third person whose nationality was not immediately known, security sources added.

Lebanon has suffered a wave of sectarian violence in recent months linked to the conflict in Syria.

On Monday night, a suicide bomber blew up his car near an army checkpoint in Beirut, killing himself and a security officer. Three days earlier, the head of Lebanon's General Security service narrowly escaped a suicide bombing near the Syrian border.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, has warned that such attacks will continue so long as Hezbollah takes part in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's military.

Syria's civil war has spilled over the border, bringing violence into neighboring Lebanon and inflaming sectarian tensions.

Al Jazeera and wire services