Hezbollah Attacks on Pro-Israeli Troops Leave 1 Soldier Dead, 1 Hurt

Guerrillas attacked Israeli-allied militiamen Friday in southern Lebanon, killing one and wounding another in attacks that provoked Israeli air and ground retaliation.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah rebels also fired mortars near the border, damaging an Israeli outpost, an Israeli spokesman said.

Also Friday, newspapers quoted Lebanese President Emile Lahoud as saying he has ruled out amnesty for pro-Israeli militiamen after Israel withdraws from a 9-mile-deep security zone in southern Lebanon in July.

“There will be no amnesty for those who collaborated with the enemy against their people and country,” Lahoud said in a statement published Friday.

In southern Lebanon, guerrillas fired rockets and mortar shells at four outposts of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia, Lebanese security officials said on condition of anonymity.

The Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for the attacks, including one just a few hundred yards from the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israeli warplanes struck back with a number of air raids against suspected guerrilla targets north of the occupied enclave, Lebanese and Israeli officials said. Israeli troops and their allied militia also fired 155-millimeter howitzers and mortars at suspected guerrilla hide-outs across from the zone, the officials added.

There were no reports of casualties from the air and ground attacks.