Israeli soldier killed in south Lebanon mine explosion

An Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded in southern Lebanon today when their tank hit a land mine, Lebanese officials said.

The Israeli military was not immediately available to comment on the report.

It was the second Israeli casualty in tense south Lebanon since a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement on August 14 ended 34 days of ferocious fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas.

On Saturday, an Israeli officer was killed in a commando raid deep inside Lebanon.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have remained on the positions they occupied during the clashes, waiting for a UN peacekeeping force to move into Lebanon and guarantee a buffer zone between Israel and the guerrillas.

Lebanese security officials said the Israeli patrol hit a land mine between the village of Blida and the UN-demarcated border line, less than three miles into Lebanon.

The Lebanese officials said the Israeli soldiers had entered a minefield – one of the many left over by the Israelis after their troops withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 ending 18 years of occupation.

Providing maps for the minefields in Lebanon is required from Israel under the UN ceasefire resolution that ended the latest fighting.

Hezbollah guerrillas also have laid mines in the south before and in the course of the recent fighting to stop the Israeli army’s ground push.

Under the UN-brokered ceasefire, Lebanon plans to deploy 15,000 soldiers in the south, establishing a government force in the region for the first time in four decades.

Plans for some 15,000 international peacekeepers to join the Lebanese troops have been delayed by wrangling among countries expected to send troops.