By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The leader of the militant Hezbollah group vowed Sunday to continue attacking Israeli troops in a disputed border area and to prevent any Israeli violations of Lebanese territory.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also said his guerrillas would plant explosives on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel in an attempt to stop Israeli infiltrations.
"The Israeli air, sea and land violations amount to attacks on Lebanon's sovereignty. We will confront these violations," Nasrallah told a rally in the southern Lebanese village of Jibsheet, about 55 miles south of Beirut.
"Any Israeli soldier who sets foot on an inch of Lebanese territory must bear the consequences of his action. Whether we will kill him, injure him or take him prisoner, it is our choice."
Nasrallah said Hezbollah's anti-aircraft units will continue firing on Israeli warplanes flying in Lebanese airspace, and his guerrillas will continue attacking Israeli troops until they vacate the disputed Chebaa Farms area captured during the 1967 war.
Israeli warplanes sometimes fly over Lebanon on apparent reconnaissance missions — occasionally rattling residents by breaking the sound barrier — and its ships have sailed into Lebanese territorial waters, prompting complaints by the government.
Sunday's rally was attended by about 5,000 Hezbollah supporters waving the party's yellow flags. The gathering marked the 12th anniversary of the death of former Hezbollah leader Sheik Abbas Musawi in an Israeli attack and the 20th anniversary of the killing of Sheik Ragheb Harb, another Hezbollah leader, by unidentified gunmen.
Hezbollah blames Israel for Harb's killing.
Nasrallah's organization led a guerrilla war against Israel's 18-year occupation of a border zone in southern Lebanon that ended in May 2000.
Lebanon has rejected American demands to dismantle Hezbollah, which is branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
Read the last sentence. I don't think I have heard anything about this today on cable news.
Afghan Raids Net Three Arrests, Weapons
Sun Feb 15, 4:34 PM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - American forces backed by warplanes sealed off two villages in southern Afghanistan and detained two terror suspects Sunday, while Afghan police and NATO-led troops in Kabul made one arrest and seized arms and terror-related material in another raid.
As many as 60 U.S. soldiers supported by warplanes sealed off a pair of villages Sunday in southern Helmand province and detained two men — Mulvi Abdul Ghafar and Gul Agha — suspected of ties to top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, local district leader Haji Amir said.
In a separate operation Saturday, Afghan police and the NATO-led security force raided a suspected terrorist hideout in the Afghan capital, detaining one person and seizing arms and "terrorist-related material," said Rita LePage, a spokeswoman for the International Security Assistance Force that patrols Kabul.
No one was injured in the raid on the home, where five women and 12 children were present, LePage said.
LePage did not give the suspect's name or nationality, but he is not considered a major terror figure. She gave no further details.