NICOSIA Ñ In a rare claim, the Iranian-backed Hizbullah said it has destroyed a key Israeli radar base along the southern border with Lebanon. Israeli officials dismissed the Hizbullah report.

Hizbullah leaders said the Israeli radar was destroyed by Shi'ite rocket and mortar fire on Sunday. They said the radar was capable of peering into Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

"The radar position that the Islamic resistance has destroyed is the most important position in the Middle East," Hizbullah commander Nabil Kawk said. "Israel was astonished by the speed of our retaliation and was shocked by the loss of the radar in the Shebaa area."

The reference was to Hizbullah's retaliation to an Israeli air strike on Sunday in which a Syrian radar facility was destroyed. Within minutes after the Israeli strike, Hizbullah fired anti-tank rockets and mortars toward Israeli military positions in the disputed Shebaa plateau along the Lebanese border.

The Hizbullah commander said Israel's military is rebuilding the radar site and surveillance equipment.

On early Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council reiterated its concern over the current tension and called for restraint along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts