BAALBEK, Aug 19: Israeli commandos mounted a deadly raid deep inside Lebanon on Saturday in the biggest challenge yet to a fledgling six-day-old ceasefire that brought a halt to a month of devastating conflict.

Lebanon warned it might suspend the historic deployment of government troops to Hezbollah’s long-time bastion in the south in accordance with the UN truce resolution if the world body failed to ensure Israel kept its side of the bargain.

Mr Roed-Larsen, a UN envoy, said that on the basis of news reports the Israeli raid looked like a breach of the ceasefire resolution.

“If what has been reported is correct, it is of course a clear violation of the ceasefire,” he told the privately run LBCI television.

The Israeli army said one officer was killed and two others wounded in the dawn raid which was intended to prevent arms being delivered, it alleged, to the Hezbollah by Iran and Syria.

Israeli helicopters landed two Hummer vehicles in the mountainous region of Afqa, about 30 kilometres east of Baalbek, as Israeli jets carried out mock raids as cover, the Lebanese military said.

Israeli forces then drove eastward to the nearby village of Buday, where they clashed with Hezbollah militants for about an hour before two helicopters retrieved them.

“The Israeli soldiers left six large pools of blood,” a military source said.

A Hezbollah source and a local resident said the commandos were wearing Lebanese army fatigues.

Lebanese leaders condemned the operation, the first major incident since the UN-brokered ceasefire took effect on Monday.

Defence Minister Elias Murr warned Lebanon was considering suspending the deployment of troops to the border region for the first time in decades as stipulated in the UN truce resolution.

“I could ask the cabinet to stop the army’s deployment to the south, as we did not send the troops to fall into an Israeli trap,” Mr Murr said after talks with visiting UN envoys Vijay Nambiar and Terje Roed-Larsen.

Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh both said they had protested to the UN envoys.—AFP