Hezbollah 'captures 2 Israelis'
2006-07-17 14:29
Beirut - Heavy clashes erupted in southern Lebanon on Wednesday as Hezbollah TV announced that guerrillas have captured two Israeli soldiers along the border with Israel.
Israeli army officials could not immediately confirm whether soldiers had been captured, but said they had "serious concern" about the claim.
Israeli aircrafts struck roads, bridges and Hezbollah guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon, Lebanese security officials said.
The air raids apparently were to block any escape route for the guerrillas who may be taking the captured Israeli soldiers to areas further removed from the border in order to prevent an Israeli rescue mission.
Rocket attacks at Israel
The Israeli army said the strikes followed Lebanese guerrillas rocket attacks at northern Israeli communities.
Israeli tanks were also firing artillery rounds at southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said. Medics said four Israelis were wounded by the rocket fire on the western Galilee.
A Hezbollah official in southern Lebanon said the guerrilla was "retaliating" after Israeli forces shelled several villages near the border.
There was not any immediate reports of casualties.
Witnesses in southern Lebanon said the bombings were still continuing one hour after the clash began.
Al-Manar, the TV station of the Hezbollah guerrilla group, reported that Israeli artillery was pounding the fringes of the villages of Aita el-Shaab, Ramieh and Yaroun in the hills east of the coastal border port of Naqoura.
Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas occasionally clash along the border in southern Lebanon.
Gaza offensive
The latest flare-up came as Israel's continued its two-week-old offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip to try to win the release of a captured Israeli soldier.
The clashes came after Israel's air force dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a residential building in Gaza, killing at least six people, including two children.
The target of the air strike had been top Hamas militants meeting in the building, but Hamas said its top fugitive got away.
- AP