Israeli troops on Tuesday afternoon shot dead two armed men on the border with Lebanon, near the village of Ghajar, Israel Army Radio reported. Israeli military sources later said that they were apparently hunters.
The two men were shot in an area east of the border, the report added. Their bodies were taken by the troops.
Meanwhile, Lebanon condemned the shooting as an "unprovoked attack deliberately designed to introduce a new charge of tension" along the border.
Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Hariri said in separate statements that Israel would have to take the responsibility for "the consequences of this grave aggression."
Hariri said the two Lebanese victims were killed on Tuesday inside Lebanese territory. "Israeli soldiers then dragged their bodies across the Blue line into Israeli-held territory to justify the premeditated attack," the Lebanese Prime Minister said.
"This is a grave escalation in South Lebanon for the consequences of which Israel has to take the responsibility," President Lahoud said in a statement in Geneva. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
