Hezbollah claims border attack on Israeli patrol

Lebanon’s Shiite militia claimed responsibility Tuesday for an attack on the border with Israel that wounded Israeli soldiers and prompted retaliation from the Israeli military.

The announcement was carried by the group’s affiliated television station, Al-Manar.

A blast on Lebanon's border with Israel wounded three Israeli soldiers and the Israeli army responded by firing artillery shells across the frontier, an Israeli security source said, Agence France-Presse reported

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the incident, which took place near the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Shouba.

Al-Manar said an explosion had been heard in the area.

Tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli borders are frequently tense. Earlier this month, Israeli troops shot and wounded a Lebanese soldier across the ceasefire line between the two countries.

Largely quiet

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war but their 80 km border has been largely quiet since a month-long war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in 2006.

Israel remains on alert for any spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria, where Hezbollah forces are fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it fired on two people who tried to slip into the country from Lebanon. Both turned back, the military said.

(With agencies)