Marjayoun, NU Online
Hizbollah guerrillas, firing anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, hit at least two Israeli tanks near the town of Marjayoun on Thursday during fierce fighting in the area after a major Israeli incursion.
"I can see two tanks burning some 500 meters from Marjayoun," the resident told Reuters by telephone. He said later that a third tank approached the scene and took away several casualties. The burning tanks were abandoned.
<>"For the past 10 minutes, Hizbollah has been raining rockets and mortars on the Israeli force between Marjayoun and Khiam," he said.Hizbollah said in a statement it had destroyed 11 Israeli tanks, killing or wounding their crews, in fighting in the area. There was no Israeli comment.
An Israeli force near Marjayoun headed toward the Shi'ite Muslim town of Khiam to the southeast, sparking battles with Hizbollah fighters dug in and around the town, residents said.
Israeli planes and artillery pounded Khiam as battles raged. Fighting tapered off at around noon when thuds of explosions became sporadic. Despite the Israeli advance, Hizbollah fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel from hills in the area.
Two people were killed in Israel, including a toddler.
Israeli infantry had advanced from the border to the Christian towns of Marjayoun and Qlaiah and the village of Burj al-Molouk overnight, virtually unopposed.
They passed through the towns and appeared not to take positions inside them, witnesses said. They were followed by tanks that deployed in roads in the area, drawing intense Hizbollah fire.
Witnesses said Israeli soldiers were entering and leaving residential areas after imposing a curfew. The priest of the area's main church pleaded over its public address system for people to stay indoors and keep away from windows, residents said.
"It's not clear if the Israelis had told the priest to say that but they are firing at anyone who is even trying to look out of a window," one resident said.
Israeli soldiers later conveyed the same message via loud hailers.
"On the main road, we do not see anything but can hear a lot. We cannot see any tanks or soldiers on the main road, but the sounds we hear are very disturbing," Marjayoun Mayor Fouad al-Hamra told Al Arabiya television by telephone.
Israeli soldiers also went into the Marjayoun barracks, where about 600 Lebanese army soldiers and policemen are based. Lebanese sources said the Israelis enquired about the men's weaponry and asked the Lebanese not to leave the barracks.
Hizbollah said it also destroyed three tanks near the village of Ainata to the west. Guerrillas also battled an Israeli force trying to advance toward Qantara village.
The Israeli army said 15 of its soldiers and 40 Hizbollah guerrillas had been killed on Wednesday, one of the bloodiest days of fighting in the conflict that began after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Marjayoun, a town of 3,000, served as the headquarters of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army militia during Israel's 22-year occupation of the region that ended in 2000. Qlaiah has a population of about 7,000, according to U.N. figures. (reu/dar)