Two more Israeli soldiers were killed and two were wounded in south Lebanon today, bringing Israel Defense Force casualties over a 48-hour period to 14 dead and 16 wounded. Twelve soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in a suicide truck-bomb attack on an IDF convoy Sunday.
There were four attacks on the IDF in south Lebanon last night and another two this morning, none of which caused casualties.
Military sources said the latest casualties occurred when a patrol come under small arms fire near the Kasmiye bridge over the Litani River, east of Tyre. The area, densely populated by Shiite Moslems, has been the scene of daily attacks on Israeli units. The IDF, for its part, has been searching Shiite villages, arresting suspected terrorists, seizing large quantities of weapons and explosives and destroying the houses where they were found.
But the situation, as the IDF continues its phased three-stage withdrawal from south Lebanon, appears to be worsening by the day. The deaths of 14 Israeli soldiers since Sunday brought to 637 the number of fatalities sustained by the IDF since it invaded Lebanon in June, 1982.
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