Hizbollah battles advancing Israeli troops

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon, Aug 10 (Reuters) Hizbollah guerrillas, firing anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, hit at least two Israeli tanks near the town of Marjayoun today during fierce fighting in the area after a major Israeli incursion.

Hizbollah said it had killed 18 Israeli soldiers, wounded several others and destroyed 16 tanks in battles across southern Lebanon. There was no immediate word from the Israeli army.

''I can see two tanks burning some 500 metres from Marjayoun,'' a resident told Reuters by telephone. He said later that a third tank had approached the scene and taken away several casualties. The burning tanks were abandoned.

Guerrillas rained rockets and mortars on the Israeli force between Marjayoun and Khiam in the morning, but the clashes tapered off in the afternoon, witnesses said.

Hizbollah said in a statement it had destroyed 11 Israeli tanks, killing or wounding their crews, in fighting in the area.

An Israeli force near Marjayoun headed towards the Shi'ite Muslim town of Khiam to the southeast, sparking battles with Hizbollah fighters dug in and around the town, residents said.

Israeli planes and artillery pounded Khiam as battles raged.

Despite the Israeli advance, Hizbollah fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel from hills in the area, killing a woman and her toddler son.

Hizbollah and Lebanese security sources also reported fierce fighting with Israeli forces trying to advance to the villages of Taibe, Qantara and Markaba in the western sector of south Lebanon.

ADVANCE Israeli infantry had advanced from the border to the Christian towns of Marjayoun and Qlaiah and the village of Burj al-Molouk overnight, virtually unopposed.

Soldiers took positions inside Marjayoun but appeared not to maintain fixed posts inside Qlaia and Burj al-Molouk, witnesses said. They were followed by tanks that deployed in roads in the area, drawing intense Hizbollah fire.

Witnesses said Israeli soldiers were entering and leaving residential areas after imposing a curfew. The priest of the area's main church pleaded over its public address system for people to stay indoors and keep away from windows.

''It's not clear if the Israelis had told the priest to say that but they are firing at anyone who is even trying to look out of a window,'' one resident said.

Israeli soldiers later conveyed the same message via loud hailers.

''On the main road, we do not see anything but can hear a lot. We cannot see any tanks or soldiers on the main road, but the sounds we hear are very disturbing,'' Marjayoun Mayor Fouad al-Hamra told Al Arabiya television by telephone.

Israeli soldiers also went into the Marjayoun barracks, where about 600 Lebanese army soldiers and policemen are based.

Lebanese sources said the Israelis enquired about the men's weaponry and asked the Lebanese not to leave the barracks.

The Israeli army said 15 of its soldiers and 40 Hizbollah guerrillas had been killed yesterday, one of the bloodiest days of fighting in the conflict that began after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

Marjayoun, a town of 3,000, served as the headquarters of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army militia during Israel's 22-year occupation of the region that ended in 2000. Qlaiah has a population of about 7,000, according to UN figures.

The figures issued this week showed 2,000 people remained in Marjayoun and 3,000 in Qlaiah.

REUTERS MQA VC2302