Israeli air force jets destroyed a Palestine Liberation Organization base in southern Lebanon on Monday and returned safely to their bases, a military spokesman announced.
The target was described as a terrorist training center and staging area for attacks on Israel run by Al Fatah, the largest faction of the PLO and the one headed by Yasir Arafat. The base is located near the Ein Hilweh refugee camp, east of the port city of Sidon.
Reports from Lebanon said three people were killed in the air attack.
The Israel Defense Force said the air raid was part of its policy to keep terrorist groups in southern Lebanon off-balance by disrupting their organizational and training activities.
The IDF escorted U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney to a lookout post on the Lebanon border last Friday. Israeli officers told him that some 10,000 members of the PLO and other terrorist groups are deployed on Lebanese soil under nominal Syrian control.
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