Israeli air force jets blasted bases of the Abu Nidal terrorist group in southern Lebanon on Thursday, apparently in retaliation for the death of Israel Defense Force Col. Yitzhak Rahimov, who died in a gun battle with terrorists in the southern Lebanon security zone on Jan. 21.
The Nidal gang claimed credit for that encounter.
The air strike was the third over Lebanon this year. All aircraft returned safely to their bases, a military spokesman said.
Military sources said a missile attack by four fighter-bombers destroyed Abu Nidal’s Fatah Revolutionary Council headquarters in Majdalyoun village, 25 miles south of Beirut.
Reports from Lebanon said at least one terrorist was killed and four wounded.
The Arab-owned Radio Monte Carlo reported that Israeli jets also struck installations of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, about four miles from Sidon.
The PFLP, headed by George Habash, and the Nidal group, known as the Fatah Revolutionary Council, both broke away from Yasir Arafat’s mainstream Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1970s.
Abu Nidal, the nom de guerre used by Sabri Khalil al-Banna, is considered one of the most dangerous international terrorists.
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