2 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Lebanon

MARKABA, Lebanon — Hezbollah guerrillas who blamed Israel for a commander’s slaying killed at least two Israeli soldiers and wounded six others in clashes that also claimed the life of a guerrilla Tuesday in southern Lebanon, Lebanese security officials said.

Israel sent its air force on several bombing runs during a fierce, four-hour artillery, mortar and rocket battle in Wadi Slouki, a valley in a no man’s land across from the Israeli-occupied zone in southern Lebanon.

It was the most serious fighting since Israeli air raids targeted bridges and power stations in central Lebanon in June.

The security officials in the south, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two Israeli soldiers were killed and six wounded in Tuesday’s fighting. The wounded were being treated in an Israeli hospital.