RYAN LUCAS
Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese soldier was wounded on Sunday after Israeli soldiers opened fire near the border between the two countries, Lebanon’s military said.
There were conflicting reports about the shooting in the Shebaa farms area, a disputed zone along the frontier between Lebanon and Israel. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said it was aware of the reports and was investigating.
The Lebanese military said an army outpost came under Israeli fire, lightly wounding one soldier. It said in a statement that the army dispatched mobile units to take the appropriate defensive measures.
The Israeli military offered a different account, saying that its troops opened fire at a number of suspects who crossed into Israeli-controlled territory from Lebanon. It said the suspects fled back into Lebanon after the shooting and that the incident is being investigated.
The Israeli army described the suspects as a “squad,” but wouldn’t say whether they were Lebanese troops or fighters from the militant Hezbollah group.
Israel and Lebanon have been in a state of war for six decades, and do not have diplomatic relations with one another.
Their border has remained mostly quiet since a monthlong war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
There have been sporadic outbursts of violence, the latest of which took place late last year when a Lebanese sniper killed an Israeli soldier.
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Associated Press writer Josef Federman contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
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