IDF Stages First Ground Attack to Stop Rockets Fired from Lebanon

The Israel Defense Force sent a raiding party into southern Lebanon on Thursday morning to attack what it described as a major training facility of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The IDF raid beyond the security zone was made by an infantry unit consisting of soldiers of the crack Golani Brigade. They struck six miles north of the zone and did extensive damage to the PLO base, the IDF said.

There were no Israeli casualties, and all troops returned safely to their base in Israel.

Earlier attacks were by made by jet fighterbombers, helicopter gunships and artillery operated by the IDF and its allied South Lebanon Army. The attacks were aimed at PLO bases and Katyusha rocket-launching sites.

The IDF said the main target of assault helicopters Wednesday was a mobile Katyusha rocket launcher mounted on a light truck. The IDF claimed the launcher and vehicle were destroyed and its three occupants severely wounded.

It was the first ground foray by IDF troops into Lebanon since the PLO stepped up Katyusha rocket attacks against Israel on Jan. 29, purportedly at the request of Yasir Arafat to open a “second front” in the Persian Gulf war.

The action occurred as the Lebanese regular army moved into southern Lebanon to extend the authority of the Syrian-backed central government in Beirut.

Israel warned that if the Lebanese troops failed to remove Palestinian fighters from the area, Israel would continue to attack them.

Hundreds of PLO fighters reportedly have withdrawn to bases east of the port city of Sidon, although witnesses say the pro-Iranian Hezbollah (Party of God) militia remains dug in close to the Israeli-controlled southern Lebanon security zone.

“Israel expects the deployment of Lebanese Army units north and west of the security zone will bring about the removal of terrorist organizations from these areas,” a Defense Ministry statement said.