Israeli planes today attacked and destroyed Libyan-manned SAM-9 missiles on the Lebanese coast south of Beirut which had earlier fired at Israeli aircraft on a reconnaissance flight over the area, an Israeli army spokesman announced. No Israeli planes were hit in either the reconnaissance or the bombing sorties and all returned safely to their base, the army announcement said.
It was the first time Israeli planes had been in action since President Reagan’s special envoy Philip Habib started his shuttle mission to the region three weeks ago.
The area of today’s raid was said to be the Palestine Liberation Organization-held region around Damour, some nine miles south of Beirut, where Achmed Jibril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — General Command is based in an isolated area away from civilian housing. Their camp was among the targets of today’s raid, in addition to the missile sites.
Syrian aircraft did not try to intercept the Israeli aircraft on either flight. The coastal area involved is at the other side of Lebanon where Syrian-manned missiles are sited in the Beka valley and along the Syrian-Lebanese border. Observers noted that the raid took place the day after Habib left the region for consultations in Washington.
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