2 Indian soldiers wounded in Israeli operation in Lebanon

Two Indian soldiers participating in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were wounded in an Israeli Air Force operation when a bomb hit close to their post in southern Lebanon, a spokesman said.

"The two soldiers from the Indian battalion of the UNIFIL were moderately wounded as a result of the impact of an aerial bomb that hit the vicinity of their position (near the border village of Adaisseh)," UNIFIL spokesman Milos Strugar said.

They were immediately evacuated to a UNIFIL hospital in the town of Ibl Saqi, he said.

The observation tower inside the post was also damaged, Strugar said.

Another Indian soldier taking part in the force had been wounded in an Israeli operation on July 16 in the bordering village of Houla.

India has provided an infantry battalion to UNIFIL, which monitors the southern Lebanese areas.

UNIFIL was created in 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace and security, and help the Lebanese government restore its effective authority in the area.

Earlier, four UN observers in south Lebanon were killed in an air strike on Tuesday leading to a UN-Israel diplomatic row.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called it an "apparently intentional hit" to which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert objected.