Army sappers safely defused two explosive charges planted on the main highway leading from northern Lebanon to Syria.

The two bombs were concealed in powder milk cans and linked with a thin wire that allows their simultaneous explosion once fitted with a fuse, a security source told Naharnet.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bombs were planted along the Abdeh-Homs international highway that leads to neighboring Syria.

Each of the bombs, according to the source, was made up of almost two kilograms of heavy explosives that are similar to a bomb that went off at a Lebanese military intelligence outpost in Abdeh almost two weeks ago.

Army patrols sealed off the region and launched a search for more bombs.

The development came almost one day after a Lebanese soldier was wounded in a clash with gunmen at the entrance to the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in south Lebanon.