Israel has expressed satisfaction with the Lebanese regular army’s recent crackdown on terrorists and guerrilla groups operating in southern Lebanon.
But it has not entirely prevented hostile activities against Israel and the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army, a senior officer of the Israel Defense Force northern command said Tuesday.
An SLA patrol killed three infiltrators in a brief skirmish in the southern Lebanon security zone early Wednesday morning without sustaining casualties.
The encounter occurred near Barashit village in the western sector of the zone. The intruders were said to have been headed toward the Israeli border.
The IDF officer credited the Lebanese regular army with preventing several Katyusha rocket attacks on northern Israel from Lebanese soil in recent weeks.
He said the forces sent south by the Beirut government had orders to disarm local militias. They send out patrols and have established outposts where everyone passing through the area is checked, the IDF officer told reporters.
However, the Palestine Liberation Organization said this week that it would not obey the call by Lebanese President Elias Hrawi to disband and disarm.
On Sunday, the PLO promised it would continue to fight Israel from Lebanese soil, despite a warning against this by the president.
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