Military sources said today that the withdrawal of equipment from the Awali River line, until now the forward position of the Israel Defense Force in south Lebanon, has been virtually completed as the first stage of the three-stage withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanon progresses.
According to the sources, all heavy equipment and moveable installations have been pulled back to the new line on the Litani River. Army engineers are preparing to blow up fixed installations which neither the Lebanese army nor the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have offered to buy.
The engineers are also destroying the underground bunkers built by the Palestine Liberation Organization before 1982 when the PLO was in virtual control of south Lebanon.
An IDF officer told Israel Radio today, “It does not really matter now whether we hand over to the Lebanese army or to UNIFIL because there is nothing left to hand over.” The first stage of the withdrawal is expected to be completed by February 18.
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