Hezbollah attacks Israeli armposts with two rockets

Women mourn the death of a fighter belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah group who died during the cross-border firing. Pic/AFP

Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes along the border with Lebanon Saturday as the militant Hezbollah group attacked several Israeli army posts, including one that was struck with two large rockets.

The escalation came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his powerful group is already engaged in unprecedented fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border. He threatened a further escalation as Israel's war in Gaza with Hamas, Hezbollah's ally, nears the one-month mark.

"Hezbollah is prepared for all options," Nasrallah declared, "and we can resort to them at any time". Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters attacked at least six Israeli posts along the border, saying "suitable rockets and weapons" were used. It added that "direct hits were scored and technical equipment was destroyed".

The Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV network reported that Hezbollah fired Saturday two Burkan rockets, which carry heavy warheads, at an Israeli post known in Lebanon as Jal al-Allam. A Lebanese security official confirmed the report of Burkan rockets being used for the first time.

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The rockets, whose name means "volcano" in Arabic, were previously used by Hezbollah and Syrian government forces to destroy the fortifications of Syrian opposition fighters. They are one of a number of types of rockets and missiles that the heavily armed Hezbollah has in its arsenal.

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