BEIRUT (AFP) — A Lebanese army officer was killed on Thursday when gunmen opened fire on a military helicopter flying over a village in a Hezbollah stronghold in the south of the country.
An army official said the helicopter was conducting a training mission over the village of Sejoud when it came under fire and was forced to make an emergency landing, adding that several members of the crew were also wounded.
A Lebanese army statement identified the dead officer as First Lieutenant Samer Hanna.
The incident occurred in an area near the border with Israel, which was the scene of fierce fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli forces before their withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
An AFP correspondent said the army had bolstered its presence in the Talal Sejoud area, which lies about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the Israeli border, and had set up roadblocks.
As part of the ceasefire deal that ended the devastating 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, the army deployed in southern Lebanon along with a strengthened UN peacekeeping force.
Suspicion for the helicopter shooting immediately fell on Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite militia and political group.
"One theory is that the helicopter... approached a zone considered (by Hezbollah) to be prohibited," said retired army general Elias Hanna, an expert in military strategy.
"Another is that the Shiite movement wanted to send a message to the army ahead of the nomination of an army chief and discussions on a national defence strategy," he said.
The Lebanese cabinet is due to meet on Friday to discuss the appointment of a new army chief to replace Michel Sleiman, who was elected president in May.
Lebanese parties, including Hezbollah, must also discuss a defence strategy within the framework of a national dialogue. One of the issues to be addressed is the fate of the arms of Hezbollah, the only party not to have laid down its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war.
Internet sites linked to the anti-Syrian majority, quoting Hezbollah sources, said some of the group's fighters had fired warning shots at the helicopter and had hit it by mistake.
Contacted by AFP, Hezbollah denied having made any statement to this effect and refused all comment on the incident.
Shiite spiritual leader Sheikh Abdel Amir Kabalan condemned the attack, saying it was the work of an Israeli agent who had infiltrated the area and fired on the helicopter to foment disorder.
"Targetting a Lebanese aircraft is an Israeli act," he said.
Nine Lebanese soldiers and five civilians were killed in a bombing at a bus stop in the northern port city of Tripoli earlier this month in an attack thought to have targeted the army.
The army has also suffered other attacks since it fought a 15-week battle with militants of the Al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
In December the head of the army's military operations, General Francois el-Hajj, was killed in a massive bomb attack and just over a month later Major Wissam Eid, a top intelligence officer, was killed in similar circumstances.
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