UPDATE - Lebanese army says 2 soldiers killed in Israeli attack on military center in southern Lebanon

ADDS STATEMENT FROM PRIME MINISTER NAJIB MIKATI

By Naim Berjawi

BEIRUT (AA) - The Lebanese army said on Friday that two of its troops were killed and three others were injured due to Israeli shelling targeting a military center in the town of Kafra in the Bent Jbeil district of southern Lebanon.

In a post on X, the Lebanese army said: “The Israeli enemy targeted an army center in the town of Kafra in the south, resulting in two martyrs and three wounded.”

Condemning the Israeli shelling, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the international community to put an end to Israel's aggression on Lebanon.

According to a statement by his office, he also spoke with army chief Joseph Aoun, offering his condolences on the death of the two soldiers.

The incident raises the total number of fatalities among the Lebanese army to eight since Oct. 2023.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,351 people, injuring over 3,800 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,100 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio and Ahmed Asmar