4 Israeli-Backed Militiamen Die in S. Lebanon Blast

Four members of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army were killed and six wounded in a land-mine blast in southern Lebanon on Monday, army officials said.

Two of the wounded were flown by helicopter to an Israeli military hospital.

The land mine, which exploded under the armored personnel carrier in which the soldiers were riding, was blamed on Shia Muslim militiamen. The explosion occurred near Markaba, one mile north of the Israeli border in Israel’s self-proclaimed security zone, according to military sources in Tel Aviv.

Monday’s attack was an apparent reprisal for Israeli helicopter raids against pro-Iranian guerrillas on Sunday, the sources said. Houses in two Shia Muslim villages were attacked in what Israeli officials called a warning to militants of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah (Party of God).

Retaliatory Attacks

Three people were killed and eight wounded in that attack, Lebanese police said, which was in retaliation for a Hezbollah attack Friday in which six members of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army were reported killed.

Lebanese police, meanwhile, said that five hours after Monday’s blast, Israeli helicopter gunships again rocketed and strafed Shia Muslim strongholds in southern Lebanon in apparent further retaliation, although Israeli military spokesmen in Tel Aviv denied any such attack.