A Katyusha rocket exploded in a school yard in Kiryat Shemona Thursday morning, slightly injuring three students and a teacher. Shortly afterwards, Israel Air Force jets bombed two targets in Sidon, south Lebanon, said to be installations of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Beirut radio said six Israeli planes carried out the raid, which lasted 15 minutes and caused heavy casualties.
The 122 mm. rocket struck the school yard at 9:30 a.m. local time. Two of the injured were hit by flying glass and two others were hurt in a stampede to air raid shelters. Order was quickly restored and within an hour after the attack youngsters were kicking a football over and around the crater left by the rocket in the school yard.
Although Thursday’s casualties were minor, they were the first casualties in Kiryat Shemona since Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982 with Premier Menachem Begin’s assurance that rockets will never again fall in Galilee. The town has been hit by rockets numerous times since then but no one was hurt until Thursday.
An Israel Defense Force spokesman said the targets for the retaliatory air raid were Sidon headquarters of El Fatah, the PLO’s terrorist branch, located in the Miamia refugee camp and a tented PLO training area south of the camp. All Israeli aircraft returned safely to their bases, the spokesman said.
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