Hezbollah reports border clashes with Israeli forces

Group fires rocket salvos, pushes back advancing troops; Israel launches air strikes

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT - Hezbollah said on Oct 9 that its fighters had pushed back advancing Israeli troops in clashes along the length of the border, a day after Israel said it had killed two successors to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant movement's slain leader.

Hezbollah has been launching rockets against Israel for a year in parallel with the Gaza war and is now fighting it in ground clashes that are spreading along Lebanon's mountainous frontier with Israel.

The group said it had fired several rocket salvos at Israeli troops near the village of Labbouneh in the western part of the border area, close to the Mediterranean coast, and had managed to push them back.

Farther east, it said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and fired missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.

Rocket sirens sounded constantly across northern Israel on Oct 9, including in the major port city of Haifa, following heavy fire from Lebanon. Israel's military said about 40 projectiles were launched in one barrage at Haifa, some of which were intercepted while others fell in the area.

Israeli ambulance workers said two people were killed in strikes on Kiryat Shmona near the border and at least six were wounded in Haifa.

Israel meanwhile launched air strikes, including at targets far from the border combat zone. The Lebanese health ministry said four people were killed and 10 wounded by a strike that hit the town of Wardaniyeh, north of Sidon along the coast.