BEIRUT, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - Firemen in Lebanon brought a large forest fire under control on Wednesday amid exploding cluster bombs and the danger of mines, a civil defence official told AFP.

Flames swept through near the summer resort town of Aley, east of Beirut, after breaking out overnight in the Bmikin mountainous region between Souk el-Gharb and Aley.

"We have cut off the fire and contained it," the official told AFP, with help from Lebanon's army, the United Nations and Cypriot planes to put out the flames.

The official, who was on the ground, said on Tuesday he heard "at least eight landmines exploded and two of them were large bombs causing huge explosions," and more blew up on Wednesday.

Firefighters struggled to put out the fire due to scattered Israeli cluster bombs and landmines left over from the 1975-1990 civil war, according to the official who asked not to be named.

Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine of the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation, which conducted a damage assessment, said "19.5 hectares (48 acres) have been burned down, mostly consisting of pine and oak trees."

"There are 50 people from the civil defence working to put out the fire, 120 soldiers from the army, as well as residents of nearby villages who are trying to do what they can," Bou Fakhreddine said.

Firefighters had trouble reaching the area.

"It is a very large, steep, wooded area that is hard to get around and we can't send our men through due to the bombs," the civil defense official said.

The region where the fire broke out used to be a front line during the civil war.

While the fire appeared be contained, it has yet to be put out. "Luckily, the weather conditions aren't windy which is a good sign," Bou Fakhreddine said.

The civil defence official has said the blaze may have been started deliberately.

"We have a witness who saw someone throw something out of a car near the woods," he said, adding that no homes were at risk.

Forest fires in 2007 devastated hundreds of hectares (acres) of woodland in Lebanon.

ra/ram/hc

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