Israel-Lebanon Border Fight Erupts

KHIAM, Lebanon (AP) - Defying calls for restraint, Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon fired more than two dozen rockets and mortars Wednesday on Israeli outposts in one of the biggest cross-border attacks in two years.

In retaliation, Israeli warplanes repeatedly raided suspected guerrilla positions.

At least one Israeli soldier at a border post was wounded in the barrage, Israel said. Two Israeli posts could be seen taking direct hits from rockets and mortars, including a strike that sent flames and smoke from a radar monitoring station on Mt. Hermon in the Israeli-held Golan Heights.

The exchange was the latest in a series of attacks along the tense border that have coincided with Israel's offensive against Palestinian militias in the West Bank. Israel and the United States have accused guerrillas of trying to open up a new front in the conflict.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) said Wednesday that Syrian and Lebanese leaders had assured him they would try to curb guerrilla attacks on Israel from Lebanon. "They will do everything they can," Annan said he was told. Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon and a supporter of Hezbollah.