Two Israeli soldiers were reported killed and another was wounded yesterday (14 September) when an Israeli patrol and an Arab guerrilla band clashed on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The action came after several days of tension during which Israeli positions on the Heights came under artillery and small arms fire.

Earlier, newsmen had been briefed on the situation during a visit to fortifications in the area.

There they saw Israeli troops maintaining a constant vigil from observation posts and gun emplacements on positions on the Syrian side of the border.

Off-duty troops relaxed playing darts and table tennis.

The action of the past few days had broken a quite period along Israel's frontier with both Syria and Lebanon. The Golan Heights area had been closed to civilians, but it was denied that this heralded any increased military activity in the area.