Six Israel Soldiers Wounded; IDF Steps Up Searches of Shiite Villages

Six Israeli soldiers were wounded in south Lebanon in a series of attacks yesterday and today while the Israel Defense Force stepped up its searches of Shiite villages.

Eight armed terrorists were reported killed today in one village, Kautayat A-Siyad, about 20 kilometers south of Sidon. According to the IDF, five were killed when they tried to evade a search of their car and three others while hiding in a cave. Sources of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that in addition to Kautayat A-Siyad, the IDF searched Burg Al-Shamali village east of Tyre.

The IDF casualties, caused by Katyusha rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside explosives, were not serious. The soldiers wounded today were treated on the spot and did not require hospitalization. The IDF spokesman did not specify how many of the six were wounded today.

220 ATTACKS AGAINST THE IDF

Meanwhile, Western diplomatic sources in Beirut were quoted as saying today that 220 attacks have been carried out against the IDF in south Lebanon during the past month, a 75 percent increase over the previous month and three times the number of attacks in March, 1984.

The sources said that 80 percent of the attacks occurred south of the Litani River, 18 percent in the Nabatiya area. Only two percent were near the international border or on the eastern sector of the front where the IDF faces Syrian forces.

Three French soldiers of a UNIFIL contingent were wounded today when their vehicle was damaged by an explosive charge eat of Joya village. Israeli and foreign journalists were jolted when a bomb exploded under a water culvert over which their vehicle was passing south of Kasimiye. None was hurt. The journalists were travelling with an IDF escort.