-Caveat Lector- Thursday December 16 2:51 PM ET 20 Kids Wounded in Israeli Shelling By AHMED MANTASH Associated Press Writer ARAB SALIM, Lebanon (AP) - Shells fired by an Israeli-allied militia exploded at an elementary school in southern Lebanon on Thursday, wounding 20 children and sending hundreds scurrying for cover. Israel apologized for the casualties. One of the three shells struck a wall around the school, shattering windows and littering classrooms with debris and broken glass. Small pieces of human flesh were spattered on a desk and blood stained the walls. Desks and chairs were overturned by fleeing pupils. ``The class immediately broke up in panic amid the screams of the wounded and the frightened,'' said geography teacher Mohammed Farhat, who was instructing students about the continents when the first two shells landed near the school in the village of Arab Salim. The attack heightened tensions on the last active Arab-Israeli war front a day after Syria and Israel, the key players in Lebanon, resumed negotiations in Washington. The talks are expected to increase the chances of a peaceful solution for southern Lebanon. While Hezbollah officials in the south threatened to retaliate - they have in the past fired rockets on northern Israel - their leader said he will hold his fire this time but warned patience has run out. ``This deserved the shelling of Zionist (Israeli) settlements by the Islamic resistance,'' said Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. ``But we will not take such measures but we reserve the right to retaliate and we say, `Our patience has run out.''' Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 120mm mortar shell hit a wall outside the third and fourth grade classrooms on the school's ground floor. Two other shells fell in a nearby bush. The school faces a military outpost manned by Israeli and allied militiamen on the opposite side of the valley. Twenty students, aged 9 to 15, were wounded by shrapnel, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The children were taken to a hospital in Nabatiyeh, four miles away. At least three were in serious condition with wounds to their heads and faces, the officials said. Others suffered cuts from shrapnel and glass shards. The remaining 400 students were shepherded by teachers to sandbagged rooms that are used as shelters and later sent home. In the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shemonah, underground shelters were opened as a precaution against possible reprisal attacks and parents were asked to pick up their children from school. The Israeli military said its allied South Lebanon Army militia shelled the village after its outposts came under guerrilla attack Thursday morning from a residential area of Arab Salim. ``The Israel Defense Forces have no intention of causing escalation in south Lebanon,'' said a statement by the Israeli military. ``The injury to the civilians was caused accidentally. The IDF expresses regret over the injury of civilians.'' In the past, Israeli warplanes and artillery have pounded suspected guerrilla bases in a valley near Arab Salim. The three-story school has been hit four times before, most recently in May. The school's only other casualties came in 1991, when seven students were wounded by shelling. ``We heard the shelling but we did not care. This is part of our daily life in the south,'' Ali Yussef Ibrahim, 11, who suffered shrapnel wounds, said at a hospital in Nabatiyeh. President Emile Lahoud said the attack threatened to undermine the Middle East peace efforts, his office said. Prime Minister Salim Hoss called on a multinational committee monitoring combat in southern Lebanon to convene to discuss Israel's ``criminal aggression'' against civilians. The committee of American, French, Lebanese, Israeli and Syrian representatives has sought in the past to contain hostilities. The Israeli military's statement said the committee will meet Friday in special session to discuss the attack on the school. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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