BEIRUT, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon found suspected explosives hidden in a garbage truck in front of their base on Sunday, the peacekeeping force said in a statement. Two Lebanese men who had been in the vehicle had been handed over to Lebanese security forces for questioning, according to the statement issued by the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force. A sniffer dog had detected what the statement said was "a moderate quantity of substance, presumably plastic explosive", hidden in a tool box in the truck, as it tried to enter the base in Tibnine.

There have been several attacks on the U.N. force since it was expanded in 2006 as part of a Security Council resolution that ended a war between Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel, including a car bomb that killed six members of UNIFIL's Spanish battalion in the south in June, 2007. (Writing by Tom Perry)

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