Israeli Warplanes Hit PLO Bases in S. Lebanon; 5 Guerrillas Hurt

Israeli warplanes blasted Palestine Liberation Organization bases on the outskirts of Sidon on Friday, and police said that five guerrillas were wounded in the 14th such raid on Lebanon this year.

The warplanes struck four PLO bases in a Palestinian refugee camp on the southern edge of Sidon and on another such camp about a mile to the east.

Police said that two Israeli jets made five bombing sorties in 45 minutes, firing 16 rockets into the PLO bases. Two other warplanes flew cover in the raid.

They said PLO guerrillas in the camps opened up with anti-aircraft fire against the raiding jets but that no planes were hit.

Black smoke billowed from the stricken targets, reporters said. Ambulances and fire engines raced to the scene, evacuated the casualties and put out the fires.

Police said four rockets knocked out a maritime base of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah, the PLO’s mainstream faction, and tore a rubber dingy into pieces. Ten other rockets leveled two nearby Fatah militia bases.

Two rockets demolished a base used by the Moscow-oriented Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of the nine groups making up the PLO.

Israel’s military command acknowledged that its air force jets staged a raid against targets near Sidon. It said in a statement that the warplanes returned safely after destroying the targets.

The raid may have been in retaliation for a Sept. 16 infiltration attempt into Israel from southern Lebanon. Israeli troops intercepted three PLO guerrillas and shot and killed them just north of the Israeli-Lebanese border.

By Lebanese police count, 65 people were killed and 103 wounded in the 13 previous air raids this year.