Col. Avraham Elran, severely wounded in south Lebanon last Monday, died at a Haifa hospital Thursday night and was buried at Rishon LeZion Friday. He left a wife and three sons.
The death of the 38-year-old career officer from Zichron Yaacov brought to 607 the number of fatalities sustained by the Israel Defense Force since it invaded Lebanon in June, 1982. Elran was mortally wounded when he went to investigate the scene of two roadside explosions that had just taken the lives of two Israeli soldiers and wounded two others.
He was felled by a 20 kg-explosive charge. Medical officers treated him on the spot where he remained for several hours until a helicopter evacuated him to a Haifa hospital. His condition was listed as critical and remained so until his death.
Elran had served as an infantry battalion commander, deputy commander of a paratroop brigade and commander of an IDF unit in the Jordan Valley.
URGE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING FOR SENIOR OFFICERS
Senior medical staff at Israeli hospitals have urged the army to insist that all officers and men wear flack jackets and steel helmets in danger zones of south Lebanon to reduce the risk of serious injuries. They said many senior officers have been seen in high risk areas without the protective clothing mandated by army regulations.
Three other incidents in south Lebanon Friday caused no casualties. They were aimed at units of the IDF and of the allied South Lebanon Army (SLA). A Katyusha rocket was fired at an IDF post near Jib Jenin in the eastern sector of the front. An IDF patrol was attacked near the Litani River and an SLA patrol was attacked east of Tyre.
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