Israel Sweep Continues; 8 Shias Killed

At least eight Shia Muslim guerrillas and one Israeli soldier were killed and one U.N. peacekeeping soldier was wounded Thursday in the fiercest day of fighting since Israeli troops swept out of their self-proclaimed “security zone” in southern Lebanon at the beginning of the week.

All the fatalities reported by the Israeli military command occurred during a four-hour battle on the outskirts of Srifa, 15 miles north of the Israeli border, when an Israeli patrol called in tank, artillery and helicopter fire after it was ambushed by Muslim guerrillas.

The Israeli assault appeared to be focused on 30 houses on the northeast flank of Srifa, where Shia fighters were firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. Three Israeli Cobra helicopters circled over the town, apparently directing the attack.

Resistance Growing

U.N. sources said the 1,200 to 1,500 Israeli troops involved in the Lebanese operation faced growing resistance throughout the region as they continued what the military command in Tel Aviv insists is only a search for two Israeli soldiers captured in a guerrilla ambush last Monday.

U.N. spokesman Timur Goksel said in a telephone interview that residents of the area are convinced that the two captured soldiers have been taken out of southern Lebanon and that the continuing Israeli operation has turned into a general security sweep aimed at confiscating weapons and capturing anti-Israeli guerrillas.

“They don’t anymore see it as a search following an ambush because of the scope and the size of the force used, and also the dimension of the (search) area,” Goksel said.

No Trace of Soldiers

The Israelis so far have found no trace of the two missing soldiers, and the military command said there has been no confirmation of a claim by the Islamic Resistance movement, an alliance of fundamentalist Shia Muslims, to have executed one of the captives Wednesday night.

Israeli officials have said the Lebanese operation will continue until they are convinced that the captured soldiers are no longer in southern Lebanon.

Thirteen Lebanese guerrillas are now reported to have been killed since the Israeli sweep began on Monday. In addition to the eight killed in Srifa on Thursday, U.N. and Israeli military officials said another body was found at the site of a clash the day before in the village of Haris. That brought the death toll in that battle to five.

Death Toll May Rise

Goksel said that at least 10 more Lebanese “that we know about” have been wounded during the action. The toll is expected to rise when a full report on the Srifa battle is available today, he said.

The soldier killed in Srifa was the second reported Israeli fatality of the operation. The first was a seaman killed Tuesday by shore fire as his patrol boat cruised offshore near Tyre.

State-owned Beirut radio reported Thursday that 20 Israelis have been killed or wounded, but there was no confirmation for the higher figure.

Israeli television reported Thursday night that more than 2,000 Lebanese have been questioned during the sweep, including Shia religious leaders who have been hostile to the continued presence of Israel and its mainly Christian proxy militia, the South Lebanon Army, in the security zone.

Zone Extends 10 Miles

The irregularly shaped zone extends up to 10 miles north of the international border and stretches from the Mediterranean to the slopes of Mt. Hermon on the Syrian border.

More than 90 Lebanese, most of whom the Israelis say are members of the pro-Iranian organization Hezbollah (Party of God), were arrested in the first three days of the sweep, according to U.N. figures. No arrest figures were available for Thursday’s searches, which the U.N. force said included eight villages north of the security zone.

The Israeli military command said it has confiscated large quantities of weapons, including 100 Katyusha rockets and launchers in the village of Soultaniye on Thursday.

Foreign correspondents based in Israel have been prohibited from traveling freely into southern Lebanon, although Israeli military correspondents have accompanied their forces on some of the village searches.