U.N. Peacekeeper Killed in Fighting in South Lebanon

Muslim guerrillas and U.N. peacekeepers battled in south Lebanon on Thursday, leaving one guerrilla and a Nepalese soldier dead, authorities said.

In a separate clash, an Israeli soldier and a guerrilla were killed after Hezbollah militants fired on an army patrol in the western part of Israel’s self-proclaimed security zone, the Israeli army said in Jerusalem.

Two other Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded, and one wounded guerrilla was taken captive in the clash near the village of Beit Lif, the army said. In Washington, Israeli negotiator Uri Lubrani said peace talks between Israel and Lebanon would continue despite the violence. Talks resumed Thursday after a day off for Veterans Day.

The clashes came amid heightened tensions along the border between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah, or Party of God, gunners have recently shelled northern Israel, prompting Israeli artillery fire that has driven Lebanese civilians northward.

Three other Nepalese soldiers were wounded in the clash with pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters in Kafra, officers with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said.

Fundamentalist guerrillas fired at the Nepalese patrol after it ordered them to abandon a surveillance position, U.N. spokesman Timur Goksel said.

The guerrillas also attacked Nepalese troops in nearby Yater and Srobbine, Goksel said. The villages are just north of Israel’s self-proclaimed security zone, designed to shield its northern settlements from guerrilla attacks.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency blamed the clash on the U.N. soldiers. It said they fired on a Hezbollah ambulance, killing a nurse.

Hezbollah guerrillas also attacked Israeli troops in the hilltop hamlet of Reshaf, which overlooks Kafra and Yater, security sources said on condition of anonymity.

The Nepalese death brought the number of U.N. soldiers killed in south Lebanon to 189 since peacekeepers were deployed in 1978 after a three-month Israeli invasion.