Two killed in gunbattle in Palestinian district of Beirut

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two Palestinians were shot dead and seven people wounded in a gunfight in southern Beirut on Monday on the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila, security sources said. It was not immediately clear what caused the confrontation in the Lebanese capital, which has been tense after three explosions shook the country last week, two in Beirut and one in the Bekaa Valley on the road towards Syria. Lebanon has suffered bombings, rockets attacks and gunfights in several of its main cities since the outbreak of the conflict in neighboring Syria, which has deepened sectarian tensions in the small Mediterranean nation. But violence has also sporadically broken out among heavily armed factions in Palestinian camps, where Lebanese security forces have limited authority. (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Tom Heneghan)