A resistance fighter of the Hizbollah movement was killed Wednesday in an Israeli air attack on one of the group's strongholds in southern Lebanon, said AFP.
Hassan al-Sheikh, 21, was killed in a raid on Birkit Jabbur, just north of the western sector of the Israeli-occupied zone in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese police said that Israeli fighter-bombers had fired four missiles at Birkit Jabbur and Jabal Abu Rashed.
Al-Sheikh is the ninth Hizbollah member to be killed in south Lebanon since January, said Reuters.
Israel has lost seven troops and its allied South Lebanon Army (SLA).
Security services in the occupied zone said the SLA had arrested two Lebanese, including one who worked for the Israeli intelligence services, and interned them in the notorious Khiam jail, AFP added.
According to AFP, arrests by the SLA, notably of deserters from its ranks, have increased since Israel announced it would end its 22-year occupation in July.
Israeli press reports have spoken of plans to protect SLA members after the withdrawal by housing them in northern Israel but nothing concrete has been announced - (Agencies)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
