Khaberni - Hezbollah announced early Monday that its fighters confronted a wide Israeli airdrop involving about 15 helicopters over the eastern chain in eastern Lebanon, confirming the downing of one of those helicopters, according to the French agency.
Two sources in Hezbollah told the agency, on condition of anonymity, that the party's fighters downed an Israeli helicopter during the confrontation, while a Lebanese security source confirmed to Al Jazeera that the Israeli helicopters intended to carry out an airdrop inside Lebanese territory.
Fierce clashes erupted early Monday in eastern Lebanon, following an attempt by an Israeli force to carry out an aerial airdrop near the town of Nabi Sheet on the eastern chain adjacent to the Lebanese-Syrian border, according to Lebanese security sources.
A Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera that preliminary estimates indicate that the Israeli helicopters were intending to carry out an airdrop inside Lebanese territory, confirming that Hezbollah fighters "confronted the helicopters with anti-aircraft weapons" after observing intense movement of the Israeli aircraft over the border mountains around Nabi Sheet.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that "fierce clashes are taking place in the area of Sha'ra - Nabi Sheet outskirts, where Israeli forces, having advanced by aerial airdrop, attempt to penetrate through the heights of the eastern chain."
Hezbollah's statement added that "the resistance fighters monitored the infiltration of about 15 Israeli helicopters from the Syrian direction at 00:10 early Monday, which flew over the skies of the villages of Janta, Yehfoufaun, Nabi Sheet, Arsal, and Ras Baalbek," before some aircraft proceeded to airdrop an infantry force in the plain of Sargaya adjacent to the Lebanese border.
The statement clarified that the party's members "confronted both the helicopters and the infiltrating force with the appropriate weapons," noting that the clashes are still ongoing until the issuance of this statement.
