Lebanese officer dies in helicopter attack

A Lebanese army officer was killed when attackers opened fire at a military helicopter he was travelling in.

BEIRUT // A Lebanese army officer was killed when attackers opened gunfire at a military helicopter today, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in south Lebanon, a senior security official said. Details about the incident are still vague. The official said the helicopter was on a training mission when it came under fire and was forced down in the highland region of the Iqlim al Tuffah province.

No one else was hurt in the incident, which the army are now investigating. The area where the incident took place is a predominantly Shiite, apple growing region southeast of the southern port city of Sidon, far from Lebanon's sensitive Syrian and Israeli borders. It's also a stronghold of the Shiite Hizbollah group, which is believed to have bases and positions there. The area hasn't seen incidents involving Hizbollah guerrillas and the Lebanese troops in the past, and the militant group has verbally condemned previous attacks on the army and closely coordinates with it in the south. However, the Lebanese army has clashed with Sunni militants, particularly in the north, and the military has recently been targeted. A bus bombing earlier this month in the northern city of Tripoli killed 18 people, including 10 soldiers. Last month, unknown gunmen attacked a Lebanese military post in remote northeastern Lebanon, killing one soldier and wounding another. *AP