Israel and Lebanon told to use 'maximum restraint'

Two Lebanese soldiers have been killed after an incident on the border with Israel. Lebanon has reported that a high-ranking Israeli soldier had also been killed.

An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a Lebanese army post near the southern border village of Adaisseh, destroying an armoured personnel carrier, a security source said. Israeli and Lebanese troops also exchanged fire.

UN peacekeepers have urged Israeli and Lebanese forces to exercise "maximum restraint".

Witnesses said the Israeli army fired at least seven artillery shells at the village of Edayseh and houses were hit.

"It started when the Israelis wanted to cut a tree down inside Lebanon, the Lebanese army fired warning shots at them and they responded by shelling," a witness said, adding the firing had stopped but tension was high.

Israeli security sources said Israeli and Lebanese troops exchanged fire. The sources said Israeli army engineers came under fire from Lebanese soldiers while working along the frontier, and the troops shot back.

Israeli military engineering units maintain a security fence along the border with southern Lebanon, an area dominated by the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which waged war with Israel in 2006.