• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Israeli casualties in heavy Hizbollah clash: source

Posted on: Thursday, 20 July 2006, 11:14 CDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces took casualties in heavy fighting with Hizbollah guerrillas just inside Lebanon on Thursday, an Israeli military source said.

There were a number of Israeli casualties and one Hizbollah fighter was killed, the source said. Israeli media reported eight soldiers had been wounded.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera television, monitored in Dubai, reported that three Israeli soldiers had been killed and three wounded in fighting in southern Lebanon. It gave no details.

The Israeli military source said the firefight took place near the northern Israeli village of Avivim, near the place where Hizbollah guerrillas killed two soldiers and wounded nine on Wednesday.

Earlier on Thursday three Israeli soldiers were wounded, two seriously, in firefights in the area. The army said two Hizbollah fighters were killed in that clash.

Small groups of elite Israeli troops have launched small-scale attacks on southern Lebanon in recent days to try to destroy Hizbollah positions and bunkers used to fire rockets into the Jewish state.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz raised the possibility on Thursday of a ground offensive into Lebanon, and senior generals have also repeatedly said they do not rule this out.

Israel launched its widespread bombardment of Lebanon after Hizbollah captured two soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on July 12. Israeli forces have killed at least 306 people in Lebanon and Hizbollah guerrillas have killed 29 people in Israel.

The border clashes have shown that the Lebanese guerrillas are still moving relatively freely near the hilly frontier despite a week of heavy artillery barrages by Israeli troops.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category