Israeli warplanes launch attack against Syrian positions

Israeli warplanes have launched their first attack against Syrian positions in five years.

In an escalation of the Middle East violence, the airstrike was aimed at Syrian army radar in Lebanon's central mountains.

Israel said the assault was in response to Hezbollah attacks in recent months, and most recently last week, when an Israeli soldier was killed in a tank hit by a Hezbollah rocket in a disputed border zone.

Israeli jets have made several runs as tracers from ground anti-aircraft were fired at the warplanes.

The region is dotted with Syrian army troop positions that include radar stations, tanks and armoured personnel carriers.

There was no immediate word on casualties or damage from the raids, but ambulances were reported to have been dispatched to the area.

The strike was the first by Israeli warplanes on targets deep inside Lebanon since Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon last May.

It was also the first time that Syrian troops have been targeted by the Israeli army since 1996, when Israeli helicopter gunships blasted Syrian army positions near Beirut airport during a bombing campaign against Lebanon.