Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces went on a search mission Friday evening to seek rockets which were not launched following rocket exchange between Lebanon and Israel, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Lebanese army and UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) began the search mission in the surrounding area of southern Lebanon's Tyre with the assistance of dogs and helicopters
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Lebanese soldiers inspect the site from which rockets were fired into Israel, in the southern Lebanese village of Qlaileh. Several rockets fired from southern Lebanon slammed into Israel on Friday triggering retaliatory artillery fire across the border, the Israeli military said. [Xinhua/Reuters] |
At the same time, checkpoints were held by the Lebanese army along the roads. Cars are being scrutinized.
A wooden platform which was used to launch the rockets was found in the initial search, as well as a battery, in an orchard at the outskirts of Klaileh village in Tyre.
The search came after at least two Katyusha rockets were launched from the area of Klaileh, a village in southern Lebanon 15 km from the border, and impacted in northern Israel in the general area north of Nahariya.
The Israeli army retaliated with artillery fire aimed at the area from which the rocket fires originated, and the firing stopped shortly thereafter. Lebanese official National News Agency(NNA) reported Israel fired 14 shells.
Lebanese Army Command General Directorate said in a statement issued Friday evening that Israel retaliated by launching 12 rockets rather than 14.
The UNIFIL said no casualties are reported from either side.
The NNA reported that Israeli forces took extraordinary military measures along the eastern sector of the Israel-Lebanon border, including the relocation of a number of Merkava tanks further into the apple fields facing the town of Karkalla.
In return, the UNIFIL intensified their forces and called for backup on the Lebanese border.
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2009)
