By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI,  Aley, Lebanon — A bomb exploded in one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts late Wednesday, wounding at least five people, police said.

The blast rocked the Druze town of Aley around 9 p.m. and was heard as far as Beirut’s Mediterranean coastline about 12 miles to the west.Police said the bomb was hidden in a bag and placed at the entrance of a building in a narrow street about 200 yards from the main government building in town. Ambulances and police rushed to the area minutes after the blast, which had also caused considerable material damage.

The explosion sheared off walls of apartments, tore down electrical cables and wrecked parked vehicles. It also blew off shutters on the many shops in the street. Aley is popular with Arab tourists from the oil-rich Gulf who usually begin arriving in June to spend the summer in Lebanon.

Residents of the area are known to be loyal to Druse anti-Syrian leader Walid Jumblatt who had warned Tuesday of stepped-up violence and explosions across Lebanon.Two explosions on Sunday and Monday killed a woman and injured a dozen people in two neighborhoods of Beirut, as the Lebanese army battled militants holed up in a refugee camp near the northern port city of Tripoli.

Beirut and surrounding suburbs have been hit by a series of explosions in the last two years, particularly targeting Christian areas. The U.S.-backed government has blamed the attacks on Syria.Sunday’s explosion occurred across from a major shopping center shortly before midnight in Ashrafieh, an upscale neighborhood of the Christian sector of the Lebanese capital. A 63-year-old woman was killed and 12 others injured.

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• Lebanese security agencies, gather next to a destroyed house after an explosion hit it in one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts, in the Druse town of Aley southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday May 23, 2007. An explosion hit one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts late Wednesday, wounding at least two people, police said. Police officials said a bomb, placed in a narrow street about 200 meters (yards) from the main government building in the town, had gone off.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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• A Lebanese man, tries to jump from a balcony of a destroyed house after an explosion hit it in one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts, in the Druse town of Aley southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday May 23, 2007. An explosion hit mountain resort late Wednesday, wounding at least two people, police said. Police officials said a bomb, placed in a narrow street about 200 meters (yards) from the main government building in the town, had gone off.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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• A Lebanese army soldier, stands next to a destroyed house after an explosion hit it in one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts, in the Druse town of Aley southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday May 23, 2007. An explosion hit one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts late Wednesday, wounding at least two people, police said. Police officials said a bomb, placed in a narrow street about 200 meters (yards) from the main government building in the town, had gone off.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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• A Lebanese policeman, reacts as he stands next to the rubble of a damaged house after an explosion hit it in one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts, in the Druse town of Aley southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday May 23, 2007. An explosion hit one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts late Wednesday, wounding at least two people, police said. Police officials said a bomb, placed in a narrow street about 200 meters (yards) from the main government building in the town, had gone off.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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• A Lebanese soldier stands guard as police (back) inspect a damaged building at an explosion site in the Aley town east of Beirut May 23, 2007. An explosion at a Druze town east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday wounded five people, security sources said. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan (LEBANON)

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• Lebanese Druze Sheikh (R) inspect the site of an explosion in the Aley town east of Beirut May 23, 2007. An explosion at a Druze town east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday wounded five people, security sources said. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan (LEBANON)

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• Lebanese police, army officers and civilians inspect a damaged building after an explosion