Jason Koutsoukis, Jerusalem
August 4, 2010 - 3:00AM
August 4, 2010 - 3:00AM
AT LEAST three Lebanese Army soldiers were reported killed last night following clashes with Israeli troops along the border between the two countries.
Al Arabiya television reported that an Israeli soldier was also killed. A Lebanese journalist from Al-Akhbar was also killed in the most serious cross-border confrontation between Israel and Lebanon since the 2006 war.
Lebanese media sources connected to militant Shiite movement Hezbollah released unconfirmed reports that the Israeli soldier was killed in the confrontation.
In a statement, an Israeli Defence Forces spokesman said Israel returned fire after being fired upon from Lebanon.
''The soldiers were on routine activity in Israeli territory, in an area that lies between the ''blue line'' [the internationally recognised border between Israel and Lebanon] and the security fence.''
A Lebanese Army spokesman said fighting erupted after Israeli soldiers tried to uproot a large tree on the Lebanese side of the fenced border because it blocked their view.
A news agency quoted an army spokesman as saying that Israeli shelling had landed in the border town of Adaisseh, setting a military vehicle on fire and killing two soldiers inside.
Adaisseh is inland, about 30 kilometres from the southern coastal city of Tyre.
Agence France Press later reported that a third Lebanese soldier had died, and quoted local witnesses as saying there had been some civilian injuries.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman condemned Israel over the attacks, which he said contravened UN Security Council resolutions regarding peacekeeping efforts along the border.
Israeli residents living close to the border reported hearing several loud explosions.
Aharon Valensi, head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, told Israeli television that residents had been told to take cover in bomb shelters.
''We're ready,'' Mr Valensi said. ''The IDF prepared us for situations like this and we just hope that it is only a localised incident.''
Israeli military engineering units maintain a security fence along the border with southern Lebanon. The region has traditionally been a stronghold for Hezbollah insurgents, but regular Lebanese troops returned to the area in 2006 following Israel's summer war with the Shiite militant group.
A 12,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, is also deployed in the area.
After the clash, UNIFIL issued a statement calling on both armies to show ''maximum restraint'' and prevent an escalation of hostilities.
The incident follows rocket attacks on Monday on the southern city of Eilat and neighbouring Aqaba in Jordan, in which a Jordanian citizen was killed and five others injured.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/world/soldiers-die-in-israelilebanon-border-clash-20100804-115nx.html
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