One Person Injured in Rocket Attack on Kiryat Shemona

Kiryat Shemona came under a pre-dawn rocket attack this morning on the eighth anniversary of the start of the Six-Day War, One person was slightly injured and a fair amount of damage was sustained in the town near the Lebanese border that has long been a target of terrorist assaults,

One 230 mm, Katyusha rocket struck the kindergarten building which was empty at the time damaging several rooms and shattering windows in nearby buildings. Other rockets smashed windows and knocked out the town’s electric system for a time. Some rockets exploded in empty areas setting off brush fires that were quickly extinguished by civil defense wardens and the local fire brigade. Residents of Kiryat Shemona, aroused from sleep by the explosions, took to air raid shelters until the all clear sounded. Artillery fire was heard later in the morning, indicating that Israeli forces were retaliating against the sources of the attack across the Lebanese border.

Stringent security measures prevailed throughout Israel and especially in the border regions on the Six-Day War anniversary, an occasion for terrorist attacks and sabotage attempts. Several West Bank youths were taken into preventive custody on suspicion that they were preparing acts of sabotage. Roadblocks were set up at junctions leading from the West Bank to Israel proper and all traffic was carefully screened.

Premier Yitzhak Rabin visited Kiryat Shemona today accompanied by Chief of Staff Gen, Mordechai Gur, to inspect the rocket damage, Local townspeople urged the construction of more bomb shelters. Rabin met with town councilmen and said later that he was impressed by the courageous stand of the Kiryat Shemona residents, most of them recent immigrants.