WarSclerotic

Israeli soldier killed by Lebanese shooter. IDF on high alert calls up reinforcements.

Al-Awwali district of Sidon, Lebanon

The IDF confirmed Sunday night, Dec. 15 that an Israeli soldier, The soldier, Master Sgt. Sholmi Cohen, 31, on border patrol in the Rosh Hanikra region opposite Ras Naqoura was killed when a Lebanese soldier fired on his vehicle. The military spokesman earlier reported the Lebanese soldier had fired 6-10 rounds at the patrol, after which Lebanese soldiers poured into the area. The spokesman said Israel takes a grave view of the incident and has summoned reinforcements to the border region.  “We are ready for any step and reserve the right to retaliate at the right place and time,” he said.

The Lebanese army announced that “contact was lost with a Lebanese soldier,” without explaining whether the soldier was thought to have been captured by Israel or fled. Also claimed was that an IDF patrol had crossed into Lebanon and was fired on by Lebanese troops, after which Israel air force planes flew over southern Lebanon.

In another incident in the Sidon area further north, two Lebanese military positions or checkpoints were attacked. A Lebanese soldier and four attackers were killed. In one attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up.

Both took place in the al-Awwali district of northern Sidon, at the same time as the flare-up on the Israeli border further south. Heavy Lebanese military movements were sighted after the attacks. The Jund Al-Sham and other Al Qaeda-linked organizations in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Hilwa outside Sidon went on a high state of preparedness.

The IDF is investigating to find out if the Lebanese soldier who attacked the Israeli patrol was connected with the Sidon assailants.
debkafile’s military and counterterrorism sources say that if the two events turn out to be connected, it would constitute a coordinated attack by the same terrorist group on the IDF across the Israeli border and the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon.

Before midnight Sunday, the UNIFIL spokesman reported a serious incident in the Ras al-Naqoura and Serra sectors and called for restraint by Israeli and Lebanese commanders. He gave no details of the incident.

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