Israeli Planes Raid PLO Base in S. Lebanon

SIDON, Lebanon —  Israeli fighter jets rocketed a Palestinian guerrilla base Thursday on the edge of Sidon, and the base commander said one man was killed and two wounded in the attack.

It was Israel’s second air raid in Lebanon in three days and the 11th this year.

Police said six warplanes swooped in from the Mediterranean at 11:20 a.m. to attack the base in an olive grove east of the Miye ou Miye Palestinian refugee camp.

In each sortie during the three-minute long raid, three planes fired rockets at the base and three others provided protection, police said.

Raid Confirmed

In Tel Aviv, Israel’s military command confirmed the raid and said pilots reported accurate hits on the base of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

“Air force planes this morning attacked a terrorist post south of Sidon,” said a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. “All planes returned safely to their bases.”

“The post belongs to the Fatah movement. . . . It contained anti-aircraft guns, built-up positions and a few tents,” the spokesman said.

The base commander, who identified himself as Alaa, told reporters in Sidon that one guerrilla was killed and two others were slightly wounded by shrapnel.

Alaa said the injured guerrillas were taken to the Red Cross hospital in the nearby Ein el Hilwa Palestinian refugee camp.

Police said the guerrillas fired anti-aircraft guns at the raiding planes and ground-to-air SAM-7 missiles, but the Israeli pilots released heat balloons that deflected the fire away from the planes.

On Tuesday, Israeli warplanes struck bases of Syrian-backed Palestinian guerrilla factions in hills east and southeast of Beirut. Two Lebanese Druze militiamen were reported wounded.