Five militants killed in Gaza blast - witnesses

GAZA, Apr 7 (Reuters) Five militants including a senior commander were killed in an explosion that hit a car and a militant base in the southern Gaza Strip today, Palestinian witnesses said.

Militants said the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike.

The Israeli army said it had no immediate comment, but the Israeli Ynetnews web site quoted military sources as saying aircraft had targeted a car carrying Palestinian militants.

The dead militants were from the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of militants that often fires makeshift rockets into Israel. Four of the militants were killed in the car.

Besides the senior commander, the dead included a bomb maker, the militant group said.

The explosion took place near the town of Rafah on the border with Egypt.

Reuters OM VP0035