Lebanon Army and Israeli Troops Clash

JERUSALEM â€”  Israeli and Lebanese troops exchanged small-arms and tank fire Wednesday in southern Lebanon in the first such clash since the regular Lebanese army moved into territory evacuated by Israel earlier this month.

A Lebanese army command statement released in Beirut said that one civilian was wounded in the battle, which occurred between the villages of Doueir and Kaoutariyet es Siyad, west of Nabatiyeh, in territory now controlled by Lebanese troops. An Israeli account of the incident, released late Wednesday, made no mention of casualties.

According to the official Lebanese account, the trouble started when an Israel Defense Forces foot patrol approached the Shia Muslim village of Kaoutariyet es Siyad, apparently intending to raid it. Lebanese troops in the area opened fire, “forcing the patrol to stop,� according to the statement released in Beirut.

A second Israeli patrol supported by tanks and armored personnel carriers rushed to aid the first group and “shelled Lebanese army positions, forcing the army to retaliate,� the Lebanese statement said. It said the Israelis used tank-mounted cannons and machine guns during the fight, which it said lasted 90 minutes before the Israeli force retreated.

Both sides agreed that the action took place in territory from which the Israelis withdrew Feb. 16, not far from their new front line. The Israelis have made clear that they will send patrols into the evacuated area whenever necessary, as determined by their security needs.

Israeli Version Differs

However, Israeli military sources offered a different version of Wednesday’s incident. They said an Israeli foot patrol in the area spotted two “terrorists� armed with a Soviet-made Kalashnikov assault rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The patrol then opened fire on the pair, according to this account.

The Israelis’ fire was answered by a unit of the Lebanese army operating near Kaoutariyet es Siyad, according to the Israeli account. The Israeli patrol took cover, waiting for the Lebanese to cease firing and, when they did not, the patrol “fired a series of bursts in the direction of the Lebanese,� the Israelis said.

When that, too, failed to silence the Lebanese army unit, “a single tank round was fired as a warning toward the vicinity of the Lebanese force,� the Israeli military sources said. “It was aimed wide so as not to hit the Lebanese,� the sources added, and at that point “all fire ceased.�

Call Ends Incident

Israeli television reported Wednesday night that the incident ended after telephone contact between Israeli representatives and representatives of the Lebanese army. The television report also quoted unnamed Israeli military sources as stressing that “the incident resulted from an error� and that the Israelis “had no intention of acting against the Lebanese army.�

In the first part of a planned three-stage withdrawal, Israel pulled back Feb. 16 from a triangular-shaped, 200-square-mile area around the Lebanese city of Sidon. Its forces have set up a temporary new occupation line that runs from a point on the Litani River near the Mediterranean coast northeast to the Awwali River not far from the town of Jezzine. The newly formed 12th Brigade of the Lebanese army moved into the area immediately behind the departing Israelis.

A second Israeli patrol near the new line was fired on during the day Wednesday, and Israeli troops raided the village of Jibchit, about three miles southeast of Doueir, according to military sources. The sources said soldiers found a large concentration of arms and ammunition in the raided village and that several individuals were arrested and two houses were destroyed.

Israel has stepped up raids on villages in southern Lebanon inside its occupation area during the last several days in response to guerrilla attacks against its troops, which have left seven Israelis dead and more than a score wounded in a 10-day period.

On Tuesday, Israel imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew throughout most of the occupied zone and banned motorcycles and cars with fewer than two passengers from the roads in a further tightening of what the Israeli press has called a new “iron fist� policy.