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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Gunmen kill Lebanon army contractor at Syria border | |
| 2005-10-25 | |
| BEIRUT, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen fatally wounded a civilian Lebanese army contractor near the Syrian border on Tuesday, the military said. The army said in a statement Mohammed Ismail, 50, was killed by a bullet in the chest while he was among a team surveying the border in the eastern Bekaa Valley. It said Ismail was rushed to hospital where he died a short time later. It did not identify the gunmen but said soldiers were hunting them down. A security source said the shot came from a position maintained by a pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrilla group, Fatah Uprising. A senior official in the group denied any involvement.
ADDITIONAL: A Lebanese army civil contractor was killed Tuesday in a shootout with Palestinian militants in southeastern Lebanon near the border with Syria, a Lebanese security official said. The contractor, Mohammed Ismail, was accompanying a Lebanese army patrol along the Syrian-Lebanese border when they clashed with Palestinian guerrillas in the remote village of Helweh, a few kilometers (miles) from the Syrian border, according to official. The militants were from the pro-Syrian radical Fatah Uprising group and were spotted training at their base in Helweh before the attack, said the official. The militants opened fire on the patrol and a clash with machine-guns ensued, during which Ismail was seriously wounded. The official and the state-run National News Agency said Ismail died from his wounds at hospital. No other details were immediately available. On Oct. 2, Syrian gunmen killed a Lebanese farmer in a suspected land dispute in the northeastern Lebanese border village of Aarsal. In recent weeks, the Lebanese have alleged that pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrillas have brought weapons into this country with the aim of causing disturbances. The Palestinians have denied the accusations. | |
| Posted by:Steve |