IDF shells S. Lebanon after blast that injures 2 Israeli soldiers
© Reuters/Amir Cohen
The Israeli Army fired artillery shells into Lebanon after at least two IDF troops were injured in a blast on the border between the two states, an Israeli security source told Reuters.
An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the retaliatory incident, which took place near the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Shouba.
Earlier reports suggested three Israeli soldiers sustained wounds, but the Israeli Defense Force's official Twitter is talking of two soldiers being injured.
According to Lebanon's , an Israeli tank detonated a planted explosive device as it was passing through a military route in the Kafr Shouba hills.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the blast. It is the first time that the militant Shiite group acknowledges its fighters attacked Israeli troops since 2006.
Security sources told the newspaper that Israeli forces have launched at least 15 shells - at a rate of two a minute - in retaliation.
The attacks reportedly took place just 200 meters from Lebanese residential areas situated along the border. Two days earlier a Lebanese soldier was injured in a shooting in the same area.
Israel and Lebanon technically remain in the state of war since a month-long conflict between the IDF and Hezbollah in 2006.
Comment: Lebanon's adds more to the story:
Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for the blast that wounded two Israeli soldiers on Lebanon's southern border Tuesday, according to a statement released by the resistance group.
"At 2:22 pm Tuesday, the martyred Ali Hasan Haidar brigade of the Islamic Resistance set off an explosive device under an Israeli patrol in the Shebaa heights, which led to several casualties among the ranks of the occupying soldiers" read the statement.
The brigade responsible for setting off the explosive device near an Israeli tank was named after the 25-year-old Ali Hasan Haidar, a Hezbollah explosives expert, who was killed while trying to dismantle four Israeli devices planted on Hezbollah's telecommunications network in Adloun, south Lebanon last month.
The Israeli army confirmed the incident, saying that two soldiers had been wounded in the blast.
"Initial reports indicate that the explosion was caused by an explosive device that was planted" to attack Israeli soldiers, Israel's army tweeted.
Within minutes of Hezbollah claiming responsibility for the blast, the Israeli Army tweeted that it had fired artillery at two Hezbollah posts along the border. However, an Al-Manar reporter said that no Hezbollah posts are situated in the area.
Security sources told that Israel had launched at least 15 explosives in retaliation near the Shebaa hills, at a rate of two per minute. The attacks are just 200 meters from Lebanese residential areas along the border.
A senior Israeli army source told Post that "the incident hasn't ended yet from our standpoint."
Several reports cited a second blast that came within minutes of the first explosion, however, security sources denied such reports.
The blast comes just two days after Israeli soldiers fired at a Lebanese Army post and wounded one soldier in the same area.
The Army and UNIFIL have beefed up security measures as a result of Sunday's assault.
A UNIFIL source told that there were two scenarios being examined: one, the bomb was planted by Hezbollah in response to Israel firing at the Lebanese Army patrol Sunday; or two, that Israel had gone to the site to inspect a suspected bomb, setting it off in the process.
Israeli troops routinely violate the internationally recognized Blue Line around the Al-Sendaneh area to kidnap shepherds and conduct other operations.
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