Hizbullah fires at Israeli jets over Lebanon

Lebanon's Hizbullah guerrilla group said it fired anti-aircraft rounds at Israeli jets that flew over the country today.

Lebanon's Hizbullah guerrilla group said it fired anti-aircraft rounds at Israeli jets that flew over the country today.

Two people were wounded by shrapnel from the anti-aircraft fire that fell on the northern Israeli border town of Shlomi, Israeli security sources said.

"The air defence unit of the Islamic Resistance . . . confronted Zionist enemy planes that violated Lebanese sovereignty over the eastern sector of south Lebanon," a statement from the Syrian and Iranian-backed group said, adding Hizbullah gunners later fired at Israeli planes elsewhere along the border.

Residents said an Israel reconnaissance plane circled over parts of the eastern Bekaa valley, while Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier deep inside Lebanon, reaching the northern port city of Tripoli.

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Israeli planes regularly fly into Lebanese airspace, often drawing fire from Shi'ite Muslim Hizbullah, which helped end Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in 2000.

The United Nations warned in February that an increase in Israeli flights over Lebanon could escalate into a more serious conflict.