Beirut/Jerusalem, August 2
Stepping up their ground offensive, Israeli forces today captured five Hezbollah operatives and killed several others in the farthest incursion into Lebanese territory in its three-week-old operation.

The Israeli army ferried commando troops by helicopters into a hospital in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, a known guerrilla stronghold, three hours before the ovenight expiry of the 48-hour halt in air strikes declared on Sunday.

The militants retaliated with a barrage of rocket fire at northern Israeli cities killing one person and wounding at least six, reports said.

The Israeli commandos fought a pitched battle with Hezbollah militants at the Dar al-Hikma hospital in Baalbek and Arab media reported that seven people had been killed.

But Israeli army chief Dan Halutz said the troops had captured five guerillas and killed at least 10 others and had returned back to the bases unharmed. He did not identify the captives.

It is being said senior Hezbollah leader Mohammed Yazbek was the target of the operation, but he was not in the hospital at the time of the raid.

Lebanese security sources, meanwhile, named three men they said had been captured in the Baalbek raid and described them as low-ranking members of the group.

Colombo, August 2
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers attacked three army camps and pushed into government territory in the east today, as an artillery duel killed at least 47 persons a day after suicide bombers tried to sink a ship with 850 troops aboard.

Villagers flee from their homes near the army’s multi-barrel rocket firing positions aimed at Tamil Tiger rebels in Trincomalee, northeastern Sri Lanka, on Wednesday. — Reuters

Officials said five military personnel and two civilians were killed, while civilian witnesses saw the corpses of five female Tiger fighters on a road near the eastern port of Trincomalee, as a battle for control over a water sluice in the area widened.

The police said rebels had infiltrated government-held parts of nearby Mutur, had overrun a police post and were firing at troops from buildings in the town.

The military said the Tigers had tried to capture a navy jetty checkpoint but had been repulsed.

The air force resumed bombing raids on Tiger positions for an eighth day, while the rebels and military exchanged artillery and mortar fire.

“There are Tigers in Mutur town. They are firing from buildings in the government-held part,” said Eastern Range Deputy Inspector-General of Police Rohan Abeywardene.

“We had to pull men back from a police checkpoint, but the Tigers are not in control of the town,” he said.

Two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mortar bombs fell near a civilian hospital in Mutur, causing some damage to the building, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Tigers had no immediate comment on yesterday’s fighting. Petroleum Resources Minister A H M Fowzie said there was no reported damage to storage tanks in Trincomalee used by fuel retailer Lanka IOC.

State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp sourced fuel from the island’s only refinery near Colombo, he added.— Reuters

Lahore, August 2
The Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee for Sikh yatrees has decided to take the responsibility of upkeep of 62 rooms at the grave of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh — Ranjeet Singh Marri — situated outside the Lahore Fort. Out of the total 149 rooms, the federal government already maintains 40 rooms.

The conservation cost to be incurred on a single room would hover around Rs 40,000 and the deadline set for conservation is the end of the current year, reported The Nation.

Earlier, the Archaeology Department had expressed concern over the conservation standards, as it believed that the changes brought in the historical monument did not conform with its essence.

Sources said that the updated structure set-up beside Roshnai Gate is completely uneven with its beauty, and the mirror work projected the picture of army mess or national airline ticket corner.

They added that the steel shelf was also not in conformity with its historical architecture, and the painting of Sikh era had also been defaced which is in addition to the other precious paintings whitewashed. — ANI

Washington, August 2
A 40-year-old Sikh was hospitalised after he suffered stab wounds in an apparent hate crime in Santa Clara, California.

The police said Iqbal Singh was standing in front of his house on Sunday morning when his neighbour walked up to him and stabbed him in the neck with a steak knife, apparently believing that the Sikh, who wears a turban and a beard, belonged to the Taliban.

The victim was waiting in the car parking lot with his two-year-old granddaughter for other family members to come downstairs at the time so they could attend worship services in the nearby San Jose Gurdwara when the suspect approached him and stabbed him, Santa Clara police Sgt Kurt Clarke said. Mr Singh was still in the hospital yesterday with serious injuries.

The girl was unhurt. The neighbour, 20-year-old Everett Thompson, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and a hate crime. — UNI

Havana, August 2
Fidel Castro told his people he was in good spirits and stable after surgery that has raised speculation his illness might be the beginning of the end of his 47-year rule.

Days short of his 80th birthday, Castro issued a statement yesterday playing down talk he might be at death’s door after an operation to halt stomach bleeding that forced him to temporarily relinquish power to his 75-year-old brother, Raul.

A state-run television announcer who said he had just spoken to Castro quoted the Cuban president as saying the Caribbean island was functioning well in his absence. — Reuters