Two Israeli soldiers were killed and four were wounded yesterday when an Israel Defense Force encampment on the outskirts of Beirut was hit by rockets. The rocket attack was aimed at the Beirut International Airport and the city’s environs by Druze in the hills east of the city.
During yesterday’s intermittent shelling of Christian areas, some 30 Lebanese were killed or wounded. A U.S. marine, First Lt. Ailneal Morris, 26, of Sarasota, Fla., was also wounded in the attack on the airport. He was treated at the marine base and returned to duty. The airport, which closed down yesterday because of the shelling, was reopened this morning but closed again minutes later when the shelling was renewed.
Meanwhile, three Lebanese Cabinet ministers — a Christian, Druze and Moslem — who were kidnapped yesterday by masked gunmen while they were meeting with a Druze leader in the Shouf mountains, were released today. The three ministers were reportedly held overnight at the residence of Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader and pro-Syria. opposition leader.
According to reports, Jumblatt issued a list of demands as a condition for their release, including the removal of Christian forces from the Druze areas and the abrogation of the Lebanon-Israel agreement. But the three ministers were finally released without any of the demands being met.
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