בלייר מכריז על מיגור הטרור

(ג', 23.4.06)

Lebanese guerrilla was killed in cross-border fighting Sunday as Lebanese gunmen responded to Israeli airstrikes by attacking Israel, the Hezbollah's Al Manar TV said. Another militant was killed during a previous Israeli airstrike, the Lebanese army said.

A wounded Israeli soldier was the only casualty on the Israeli side, Israel's army said, denying earlier reports from Al Manar that an Israeli had been killed.

The militant Hezbollah group fired rockets at Israeli military positions in the disputed Chebaa Farms, triggering Israeli artillery bombardment and airstrikes against suspected guerrilla hideouts in southern Lebanon, Lebanese and Israeli security officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that Israel would hit back hard if guerrillas in Lebanon continue firing on Israel's north.

Olmert said he hoped Israel's initial response, airstrikes against two Palestinian bases near Beirut, would bring an end to the attacks.

"They will receive a clear and harsh response with no hesitation if they do not stop," Olmert warned. Shortly before Olmert spoke, the army ordered Israelis in two towns near the Lebanon border into bomb shelters.

The Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, said Israeli forces shelled suspected guerrilla bases in villages near the Chebaa Farms after their positions came under rocket attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas.

The Hezbollah-Israeli fighting came hours after Israeli warplanes attacked Palestinian militant bases in Lebanon, killing one Palestinian guerrilla and wounding at least six in response to a rocket attack on northern Israel earlier Sunday, the Lebanese officials said.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that six rockets were fired at a base in eastern Lebanon while several others hit a base near the Mediterranean coast. "Lebanese army anti-aircraft units opened fire at the hostile warplanes," the statement said.

The jets targeted two militant command posts, one of which was used as a storage facility for weaponry and ammunition, the Israeli army said.

The planes carried three raids on a base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in Sultan Yacoub, a village about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Syrian border, Lebanese officials said on conditions of anonymity for not being authorized to speak to the media.

Lebanese Red Cross ambulances entered the Sultan Yacoub base to evacuate a dead militant and five wounded, the officials said.

The jets then carried out air raids on the hills outside the town of Naameh, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Beirut, where the PFLP-GC Palestinian militant group also has bases.

"Israel attacked this morning one of our positions in the western sector of the (eastern) Bekaa Valley. There are damages but for now it is difficult to know how much," Anwar Raja, the PFLP-GC representative in Lebanon, told The Associated Press.

Raja later told Hezbollah's Al-Manar television that one guerrilla was killed and six wounded. He did not say whether the casualties were in Sultan Yacoub or Naameh.

The airstrike came hours after guerillas in Lebanon fired rockets at northern Israel. One soldier was lightly wounded in the rocket attack, the Israeli army said.

Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, which is known to have thousands of rockets in southern Lebanon, had no comment on the attack. Hezbollah usually claims responsibility for attacks it carries out.

A senior Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said six to eight Katyusha rockets were fired at Israel overnight.

At least three of them fell in Israeli territory, about eight kilometers (five miles) from the Lebanese border near the northern town of Tsfat.

One of the rockets fell inside a military base on top of Mount Miron, the Israeli official said. Mount Miron is the burial place of several famous rabbis and is considered holy to many Jews.

The rocket attack came two days after a car bomb killed two officials from the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in southern Lebanon. Islamic Jihad blamed Israel for the bombing and vowed to retaliate harshly.

Islamic Jihad's representative in Lebanon, Abu Imad Rifai, refused to comment on the rocket attack Sunday.

The Israeli official said the army believed the rocket attack could have been in retaliation to the assassination of the Islamic Jihad officials, which Israel denies responsibility for.

"The State of Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for any terror attack emanating from its territory, and will respond severely to such attacks," the Israeli army said in a statement.

Israel will present a complaint against Lebanon to the U.N. Security Council over the rocket attack, a Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.

"We have instructed our delegation at the U.N. to present a formal complaint against Lebanon to the president of the Security Council," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

Regev said Lebanon must comply with Security Council resolutions calling on Lebanese militias to disarm. "As long as these extremist groups remain armed, they are a threat to stability," he said.

A United Nations official in southern Lebanon said the world body had opened an investigation into the militant attack.

(bm-hd-adm)