International   

Israeli forces advance deeper into Lebanon

Aim of the military offensive is to create 30-km buffer zone

Jerusalem: Hours after the Israeli Security Cabinet agreed to widen ground offensive in Lebanon, warplanes on Tuesday pounded villages and towns in south of that country, resulting in fierce fighting with Hizbollah which suffered 20 casualties while the Jewish state lost three soldiers.

The Israeli Cabinet gave the army the green light to send ground forces up to 30 km into Lebanon in order to create a buffer zone to prevent Hizbollah militants from firing rockets into the country.

Road to Syria hit

Israeli warplanes launched several attacks across Lebanon, targeting Hizbollah rocket launchers and hideouts, and a road to Syria in the Bekaa Valley, which the army claims was hit to prevent weapons smuggling.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the troops had killed or wounded 20 Hizbollah guerrillas in battles in southern Lebanon. However, Hizbollah said only three of its cadre died in the fighting.

Three Israeli soldiers were also killed in the region, Arab TV channels Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera reported. Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio that Israel's offensive would be completed within a fortnight. Israel radio reported that the aim is to push militants back to the Litani river, about 30 km north of the border.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said the offensive would continue until the threat from Hizbollah is over.

Prior to Tuesday's fighting, the 48-hour limited halt to Israeli air strikes was called to allow an investigation into the deaths of at least 54 civilians, many of them children, who died when Israeli warplanes hit a house in the town of Qana.

Israeli ground troops were involved in four different incursions in south Lebanon as they kept up a major offensive across the border.

The United Nations force in the border region said that in the early afternoon Israeli forces entered the area of Aita ash-Shaab in the central sector of the border.

``We have reports of heavy ground fighting in the area,'' said Milos Strugar, spokesman of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Al-Arabiya said three Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in the border village. Hizbollah spoke of ``house-to-house fighting''.

Hizbollah also said it had ``killed or wounded'' 15 Israel soldiers who fell into an ambush. The Israeli army said only that it had sustained casualties.

New incursion

The U.N. force also confirmed that in the morning a limited number of Israeli troops had mounted a new incursion around the area of Houla in the southeastern sector of the border. Intense clashes were raging for the third consecutive day in the region of Taibe, Adaisseh and Kfar Kila, further north and about 35 km east of the Lebanese port of Tyre.

An Israeli army spokesman said at least one soldier was wounded in clashes around Taibe. The army also said 20 Hizbollah fighters were killed in the area. Israeli forces were also still operating in area of Marun al-Ras, close to the flashpoint town of Bint Jbeil that Israeli troops withdrew from last week.— Agencies

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Hospitals in Lebanon ill-prepared for long war
U.S. expert sees terror camp in Pakistan
Israeli forces advance deeper into Lebanon
24 soldiers killed in Sri Lanka
Blair, Schwarzenegger sign climate pact
Koreas exchange fire
Pulmoddai battle on but Sri Lankan ship `safe'
Refereeing in the bars
Magicians battle for world title
Exhibits stolen
Deadline extended
India raises differential treatment issue
India seeks access to Chittagong port

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu