4 Israeli soldiers wounded in blast near border with Lebanon

PanARMENIAN.Net - Four Israeli soldiers were wounded on Wednesday, Aug 7, in an explosion on the border with Lebanon, a military spokesman said, according to Reuters.

The troops were involved in “an activity near the border”, the spokesman said, without providing further details of the circumstances of the blast. They were taken to hospital.

Israeli forces routinely patrol the frontier with Lebanon, which has been largely quiet since a war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006.

A Lebanese security source said the incident may have taken place north of the border fence which separates Israeli and Lebanese forces, but on the Israeli side of a U.N.-designated “blue line” between the two countries.

He said the soldiers may have been wounded by a mine.

Another security source said the explosion was 150 meters south of the blue line.

Asked about the incident, Andrea Teneti, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, said he had “no information in relation to our mandate of operations”, and he described the situation as calm.