Posted on 04/10/2002 3:32:13 AM PDT by maquiladora
Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group has claimed to have seized an Israeli army post in the disputed Shebaa Farms border area, destroying a Merkava tank, after Israeli troops deserted under heavy shelling.
The guerrillas planted Hezbollah's flag at the Rowaissat al-Aalam position, the group's Al-Manar television station said. It did not specify if Hezbollah later withdrew or held on to the post.
Hezbollah dedicated its latest attacks on Israeli troops in the border region to the "heroic" Palestinian fighters facing Israel's massive offensive against West Bank towns.
The group, in a statement, paid tribute to the "heroic knights fighting and standing firm at the Jenin camp, in the Old City of Nablus and those besieged at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem."
The Islamic Resistance, Hezbollah's military wing, launched "an all-out attack on all Zionist enemy positions in the occupied Shebaa Farms," the statement said.
"A group of fighters assaulted the Rowaissat al-Aalam position ... destroying a Merkava tank, two antennas, a radar as well as reinforcements," it said. "There were a number of casualties among enemy soldiers."
AFP
BUMP
They already have been, for the past 11 days or so. A mixture of air strikes and artillery attacks, pretty standard issue now. The question is, will this attack spur Israel on to launch a bigger responce?
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KHIAM, Lebanon (AP) - Renewing its attacks in defiance of repeated calls for restraint, Hezbollah guerrillas fired more than two dozen rockets and mortars Wednesday on Israeli outposts in a disputed border area in southern Lebanon. In retaliation, Israeli warplanes repeatedly raided suspected guerrilla positions.
In one of the biggest cross-border attacks since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon nearly two years ago, Israeli police and army officials said at least one person was injured in an army post along the frontier.
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Two Israeli outposts in the Chebaa Farms area were seen taking two direct hits from guerrilla rockets and mortars. One blast sent flames and thick smoke shooting from the major radar monitoring station on Mt Hermon.
Hezbollah's TV station in Beirut said an Israeli tank was hit and was on fire. Fighters in the area said guerrillas had raided the position and destroyed the tank.
This seems consistent with the report.
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