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War claims 1st female soldier
13/08/2006 11:27 - (SA)
Jerusalem - The Israeli army on Sunday reported the first female soldier killed in action in the conflict in Lebanon.
Keren Tendler, 26, was killed on Saturday along with four other Israeli soldiers when the transport helicopter they were riding in was shot down by Hezbollah guerrillas near the Lebanese village of Yater.
Though Israeli women serve two years of mandatory military service, female soldiers on the front lines are unusual and women combat deaths are extremely rare. The army could not immediately confirm whether Tendler, a technician, was the first woman killed in combat since the 1948 Mideast War.
Hezbollah's Al Manar television reported fierce fighting in Yater on Sunday as Israeli troops attempted to retrieve the bodies of those killed in the helicopter downing.
The army officially lists the five soldiers as missing and presumed dead until their bodies can be retrieved. ^bh-kl
- AP
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