DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SOUTH LEBANON FIGHTING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261800
BYLINE=JENNY BADNER
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Hezbollah guerrillas attacked an encampment of
the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army today/Friday,
leaving an undetermined number of casualties. Jenny
Badner reports from Jerusalem that Israeli warplanes
responded with air raids shortly after the assault.
TEXT: An Israeli-controlled outpost in southern
Lebanon was attacked by Hezbollah guerrillas, killing
an unconfirmed number of soldiers from the Israeli
allied South Lebanon Army, or S-L-A.
The assault occurred when a Hezbollah vehicle exploded
in Aramta in the eastern sector of south Lebanon.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli Army says several S-L-A
soldiers were buried under the rubble after the blast
brought down part of the outpost.
One Israeli soldier was wounded in additional shelling
by the guerrillas, as were an unknown number of
fighters in the South Lebanon Army.
Israeli warplanes responded with air raids on
suspected Hezbollah strongholds shortly after the
explosion.
A United Nations position in the eastern sector of
Israeli occupied southern Lebanon also was attacked.
A Katyusha rocket, known to be used by Hezbollah, hit
a U-N peacekeeping position in Ibl Saqi, although
there were no reports of casualties.
The renewed violence coincides with a visit by the U-N
special envoy to the Middle East, Terje Larsen, to
discuss Israel's plan to pull its troops out of
southern Lebanon.
Israel has occupied a 15-kilometer wide strip of land
in southern Lebanon since 1985, saying it needs a
buffer zone to protect residents in northern Israel
from Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Since then, Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas have
fought a war of attrition against Israeli soldiers and
the South Lebanon Army, a militia financed and trained
by Israel.
However, amid growing public pressure, Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak has pledged to withdraw Israeli
soldiers from Lebanon by July. (Signed)
NEB/JB/GE/JP
28-Apr-2000 09:24 AM EDT (28-Apr-2000 1324 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
