Arab Suicide Bomber Kills 5 Israeli Soldiers; Warplanes Attack Terror Base
An Arab suicide bomber killed five Israeli soldiers and wounded one when he blew himself up during a clash in Lebanon early today, and Israeli warplanes later attacked bases of the terrorist Abu Nidal.
The Israeli patrol clashed with Arab guerrillas at 1 a.m. near Wadi Shebaa in the east of Israel’s self-declared security zone, about nine miles north of the Israeli border, security sources said.
During the clash one gunman blew himself up, killing five Israeli soldiers and wounding another, the sources said. The suicide bomber and another guerrilla died.
It was the third clash with Palestinians in the security zone in a week.
The clash near Shebaa, 28 miles southeast of Sidon, came two days after a woman suicide bomber detonated a handbag packed with explosives as she walked past an Israeli infantry patrol in the security zone, injuring two soldiers.
The Israeli navy on Saturday sank a dinghy off the southern Lebanon coast, killing five guerrillas of the pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
The escalating violence sharpened fears that southern Lebanon is becoming a flash point that could frustrate Syrian-backed President Elias Hrawi’s attempts to assert government authority and end Lebanon’s 15 1/2-year-old civil war.
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