TRIPOLI, Lebanon --Eight Palestinians, four of them children, were wounded in a blast on Sunday in a refugee camp of north Lebanon where the army battled Islamists this summer, a Palestinian official said.

Samir Lubani, an official with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, told AFP an explosive device blew up as the children were collecting scrap metal in Nahr al-Bared camp.

The four children, including two in serious condition, and two adults were transported to hospital, he said. Two men were also wounded and treated at the scene.

Lubani said the children and their families had returned five days ago to Nahr al-Bared which they had evacuated during the 15 weeks of deadly clashes between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants until Sept. 2.

Despite repeated warnings from the Lebanese army and demining groups not to touch unexploded munitions, trade continues in scrap metal extracted from weaponry in Nahr al-Bared and regions infested by mines in southern Lebanon.

About 31,000 refugees had fled the camp due to the clashes that reduced much of the shantytown to rubble.

On Oct. 10, dozens of refugee families began returning to the bombed-out refugee camp, with the help of the Lebanese authorities and U.N. agencies. -AFP