An army spokesman announced today that three Israelis were killed and four wounded in a clash with terrorists yesterday near Tyre in south Lebanon. Two of the wounded returned to Israeli lines but the other two are missing and are the objects of a search by Israeli forces assisted by United Nations units. The International Red Cross Committee was asked to intervene for the return of the missing men who, according to Arab radio reports, were captured by the terrorists.
According to the army spokesman seven Israelis–six soldiers and one civilian–crossed Israeli lines in the Tyre region and came under terrorist fire near Ras el-Eiyn village. The army said the families of the five dead and missing have been notified but their names have not been released yet.
The army did not make clear whether the civilian was among those killed or missing or one of the two men who returned. The spokesman said the incident occurred at 5 p.m. local time yesterday and indicated that the men were in a vehicle when they were attacked. It was not explained what they were doing beyond Israeli lines in south Lebanon.
The casualties were the first suffered by Israeli forces since Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire in south Lebanon two weeks ago. Terrorist violations of the cease-fire continued yesterday when mortar and artillery shells bombarded the Christian-held village of Tabieh near the Israeli border. Christian units returned the fire. The terrorists fired from positions north of the Litani River.
(At the United Nations in New York, a UN spokesman said that UN officials in Beirut reported that five Israeli soldiers were killed and that the UN has asked the International Red Cross to help return the bodies to Israel.)
Meanwhile, reports that an Israeli patrol clashed with a Norwegian unit of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) yesterday proved erroneous. Israeli sources said the incident was nothing more than a misunderstanding which was resolved amicably. They said an Israeli patrol approaching Kharbiyeh village in the eastern sector of south Lebanon was challenged by Norwegian soldiers who said they had written orders to prevent the entry of armed units into the village. But an understanding was reached and the patrol completed its mission without interruption, the sources said.
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