Israel-Lebanon: Israel says its commandos captured five Hezbollah guerrillas and killed at least 10 others in a raid deep inside Lebanon, in the northeastern city of Baalbek. Israel's army chief of staff (Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz) says commandos dropped by helicopter moved in overnight on a Hezbollah-run hospital in the Bekaa Valley, near the Lebanese-Syrian border.
MIDEAST-IRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Hezbollah is making a "heroic" stand against what he calls savage aggression, and he has pledged Iran's support for Lebanon in the fight against Israel. In a speech today (Wednesday) in Tehran (broadcast by state television), the ayatollah condemned Israel and the United States, which he said is practically Israel's partner in the current conflict.
MIDEAST-OLMERT: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says his country's offensive against Hezbollah will continue until a strong international force is deployed in southern Lebanon. In interviews today (Wednesday) with foreign correspondents (from Associated Press and Reuters), the Israeli leader said he wants the international force to have a mandate to enforce U.N. resolutions calling for Hezbollah's disarmament.
Sri Lanka: Officials in Sri Lanka say government forces killed 40 Tamil rebels as soldiers resisted an attack on strategic areas in the country's northeast. Military officials say rebels attacked army positions early today (Wednesday) around the port of Trincomalee. Five Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in that attack. The rebels say they overran the government positions, but authorities in Colombo deny they lost control of any territory.
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