9 Die in Israeli Air Raid in Lebanon
Israeli warplanes blasted a Palestinian guerrilla base in the hills just south of the Lebanese capital Friday, killing at least nine people and wounding eight.
Authorities said the jets hit a base of the Libyan-funded, Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in the hills above Naameh, nine miles south of Beirut.
The guerrilla faction is headed by a former Syrian army captain, Ahmed Jibril, who is at odds with the mainstream leadership of Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization.
Elie Hnein, head of Lebanon’s civil defense, said rescuers took the injured people to hospitals in Beirut and Sidon. He said all victims were civilians living in tin huts.
There was no immediate statement from guerrillas on damage or casualties among its members.
In Israel, the army command reported that the base was used by Popular Front guerrillas as a springboard for attacks against Israel. It said the base was destroyed in the raid.
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