Lebanon says exchanged smoke bombs with Israeli forces

BEIRUT, Lebanon

The Lebanese army said Wednesday it had exchanged smoke bombs with Israeli forces at their border.

In a statement, the army said Israeli forces fired smoke bombs at a Lebanese patrol as a bulldozer was removing “infringements” set by the Israeli army north of the withdrawal line (Blue Line).

The military statement said Lebanese forces responded by firing smoke bombs towards Israeli troops.

The Blue Line is the line set by the United Nations for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Lebanon in 2000.

There was no comment yet from the Israeli army or the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL on the Lebanese statement.

Tensions remain high on the Lebanese-Israeli border, 17 years after Israel and Hezbollah group fought a 34-day war in which more than 1,200 Lebanese -- mostly civilians -- were killed. Some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were also killed in the conflict.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar