Hizbullah gets radio up and revelations of advanced weapons

Israeli warplanes on October 15 bombed Hizbullah's radio station in the Bekaa wounding one civilian, hours after two Israeli soldiers were injured in clashes with the resistance.

The jets fired four missiles at the radio antenna of the voice of the oppressed station in Janta and the nearby villages of Nabi sheet and Sareen, 4 km from the Syrian border. Local residents reported windows had been shattered in houses close to the blasts.

Forty-year-old Hussein Musawi, was wounded in the air raid, the 63 rd in Lebanon this year, and taken to Iman Khomeini hospital in Baalbek.

Although the antenna was destroyed, the station resumed broadcasting on its FM frequency 45 minutes later. Its AM frequency was not affected.

A statement released by the station said it was the eighth time the antenna has been destroyed by Israeli warplanes.

"The repeated attack on the transmission antenna of the voice of the oppressed is evidence of the enemy's consecutive defeats from our resistance fighters, " the statement said.

The voice of the oppressed was established in 1982 under the supervision of the Iranian ministry of guidance.

The air strike came six hours after two Israeli soldiers were injured when Hizbullah guerrillas simultaneously attacked Israeli positions at Dabshe, Soueidat and Sojod on the hills above Nabatieh, and near by Beauport castle. The Bir Kallab post further north was also struck.

The casualties occurred when the guerrillas destroyed a Merkava tank near the Dabesh post. The Israeli army confirmed that an officer and a soldier were lightly injured in the attack.

A statement from Hizbullah said that the tank "burst into flames" after being hit by a missile fired by members of the Hadi Nasrallah brigade, named after the son of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Hadi Nasrallah was killed last month in a clash with Israeli troops.

The statement said the Israelis tried to retrieve the remains of the tank throughout the day but were driven off by the guerrillas.

Hizbullah's southern commander Sheikh Nabil Qaouk said that the resistance had " ended the myth of the Merkava."

"Our fighters transformed the Merkava tank into scrap metal. We know all the tank's secrets and it is now an easy target ", he said Qaouk praised the courage and victory of the fighters and described them as Lebanon 's " soul, lungs and weapon."

Israel's Merkava tanks are protected by sheets of armor that are generally effective against attacks by Hizbullah's' Sagger missiles.

However, the guerrillas are rumored to have acquired the more-advanced Spigot anti-tank missiles which are capable of knocking out Merkavas Hizbullah has consistently refused to confirm whether the fighters have obtained the missiles.

Meanwhile, the Five-nation cease-fire monitoring committee convened in Naqoura to hear an Israeli complaint.

The Israeli delegate, Brig. Abraham Tzur, claimed Hizbullah guerrillas had fired mortars from inside Majdel Slim during last week's raid on Markava, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed.

He said that a civilian had been wounded in the attack.

The committee, which includes representatives from Lebanon, Syria, France, Israel and the United States " acknowledged that a Lebanese armed group fired mortar shells from the outskirts of Majdal Slim at a position of Forces cooperating with Israel injuring one civilian."

The final statement said the Lebanese delegate Col. Maher Toufeili, told the committee that " the Target was legitimate and that the firing might have been conducted in self defense."