Israel Air Force jets roared over the Egyptian and Jordanian fronts last night and this morning and drove off a flight of Syrian MIGs that attempted to penetrate Israeli air space from the north. The Israeli fighter-bombers were also in constant action yesterday against Katyusha rocket transports on a road east of the Jordan River. All aircraft returned safely to their bases.
Yesterday’s prime target was the Jordanian radar station at Ajloun which a military spokesman described as the “eyes” of the Jordanian Army covering all of Israel. The station was destroyed during the June, 1967 Six-Day War but has since been rebuilt and is defended by a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft batteries. The Israeli attacks which began at 10 p.m. local time and continued until 1:30 a.m. penetrated the defenses without loss and scored direct hits. A military spokesman said the radar installations were put out of action and badly damaged if not destroyed.
On the Suez Canal front, Israeli jets continued their almost daily assaults. This morning’s targets were military positions and artillery batteries at the southern end of the canal zone.
Katyusha rockets and mortar shells were fired from Jordanian territory last night at Ein Yahav in the area south of the Dead Sea. Mortar shells also hit Grofit in the same region. There were no Israeli casualties. Yesterday mortars were fired from Lebanese territory at a civilian bus near Kfar Ajar on Israel’s northern frontier. There were no casualties or damage.
A military spokesman said today that the stepped-up assaults on Jordan were the result of increased military activity from Jordanian territory aimed mainly at Israeli settlements in the Beisan and Jordan valleys. He said 120 acts of aggression were carried out from Jordan during the past week. They included 27 Katyusha rocket attacks and artillery and mortar shellings of settlements and 88 attacks on Israeli military positions and patrols. He also listed three mining incidents. He said 26 attacks occurred in the last 24 hours.
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