Four terrorists on a kidnapping and sabotage mission were intercepted near the Lebanese border this morning by Israeli security forces who killed two of them in a brief exchange of fire. The other two escaped into Lebanon. The encounter took place on the Idmit plateau between the Israeli towns of Zarit and Hanita. The terrorists had managed to breach the Israeli security fence along the border but were stopped only a few hundred yards inside Israeli territory.
Documents on the bodies of the slain men identified them as members of a terrorist splinter organization known as the Popular Struggle Front which is headed by Dr. Samir Aussa and supported by Libya and Iraq. The documents included pamphlets printed in Hebrew and English demanding the release of 20 terrorists in Israeli jails.
The infiltrators planned to kidnap Israelis to hold as hostages, security sources said, but their exact target was uncertain. The terrorists’ bodies also yielded Kalachnikof rifles, hand grenades, ammunition, detonating devices and civilian clothes. They were wearing khaki garb and rubber-soled shoes when they were killed.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
