Beirut, March 7 (Petra) – Israeli air raids killed 47 people and injured 40 on Saturday in the villages of Nabi Sheet and Shamstar in Lebanon's Baalbek region, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

The Lebanese army said in a press release that it tracked four Israeli warplanes over Khraibeh-Baalbek on the Lebanese border with Syria at about midnight last night, and that two of the aircraft landed troops in the area, along with aerial bombing of neighboring villages.

It said Lebanese army units carried out immediate mobilization and defense measures, firing flares to spot the landing, while the enemy force vanished into darkness.

The landing, it said, included shelling and combing operations by the enemy force, followed by an exchange of fire with local people after the force moved from the landing site to Nabi Sheet in an operation that continued until about 3:00 AM.

It said three Lebanese army soldiers and a number of civilians were killed in the Israeli shelling.

//Petra//SS