Two militiamen wounded in south Lebanon

Two Israeli-allied militiamen were wounded in south Lebanon Friday, when a roadside bomb planted by Hizbullah guerrillas exploded near their patrol, security sources said.

The sources said the South Lebanon Army militiamen suffered moderate wounds from the bomb, which went off as they were traveling on the Kfar Houna road near Jezzine, the SLA-run Christian town in Israeli-occupied south Lebanon. Hizbullah claimed responsibility for the bomb in a statement issued in south Lebanon.

The bombing provoked Israeli air and artillery retaliation, which caused no casualties. The sources said Israeli warplanes raided suspected Hizbullah strongholds in Iqlim al-Tuffah, facing the Israeli-occupied enclave. Israeli and SLA artillery also opened up in the vicinity of villages opposite the enclave.

The escalation came as Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro was in south Lebanon, part of a four-day official visit to Lebanon, which ends Saturday. Scalfaro called for an Israeli withdrawal from the border zone in the south but said the Lebanese government must find a way to provide security for Israel along its border with Lebanon.