The forces of Maj. Saad Haddad, the head of the Christian militia in south Lebanon, last night launched on unprecedented raid on a number of Palestine Liberation Organization bases in United Nations controlled ore as in south Lebanon.
The militia attacked six villages in the strip controlled by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) along the Israel-Lebanon border are a from the east all the way west to the Mediterranean. Eight terrorists and their collaborators were killed and 12 houses were blown up. The houses were used by the terrorists as staging posts for raids into Israel or in the villages in the border area controlled by Haddad’s militia.
At one of the targets, in the village of Barashit, the militia encountered PLO terrorists inside the houses. A militia spokesman said that in the fight which developed eight terrorists were killed. The militia suffered no casualties. Barashit is in the area controlled by the Irish commander of UNIFIL.
RETALIATION FOR INCREASED PLO ACTIVITY
Haddad said the raid was held in retaliation for an increase in PLO activity against the south Lebanese population. Their villages have been shelled, there was increases ILO infiltration, and mines had been planted on local roads. Lost week three south Lebanese citizens were killed when their vehicle went over a mine. In addition, the PLO recently began confiscating form produce sent by the villagers or marketing in Beirut and even kidnapped formers at roadblocks, Haddad charged. Some of them were held for several days and were released only when Haddad shelled PLO bases.
Israel estimates that there are over 700 PLO terrorists inside the UNIFIL buffer zone in addition to some 6000 terrorists just to the north. Haddad charged that the terrorists were operating under the umbrella of UNIFIL protection. UNIFIL denies this charge and said it had been intercepting PLO activity regularly. Only last Sunday, a spokesman noted, UNIFIL stopped 16 terrorists and disarmed them.
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