From NICK PARKER
Chief Foreign Correspondent
in Lebanon
Twenty-seven martyrdom-seekers have been sent to Syria on their way to front line positions.
The mad fanatics, belonging to the Iranian Martyrs of Islam World Movement, have been training for months to wreak maximum havoc on military and soft civilian targets. Their aim is to spark terror which will detonate all-out war and suck Western nations into a final bloody showdown.
A spokesman for the martyrs group said yesterday: Two teams of 18 and nine have gone to Syria separately.
They have been deployed on a voluntary basis in order to get to the areas of conflict in any way they can.
The man, named only as Mohammadi, claimed the 27 were picked from 55,000 who registered in Iran. They were briefed and have completed the relevant courses so that they could perform both military services and helping the wounded.
Mohammadi added: If Israel would decide to occupy Lebanon again, they will carry out martyrdom-seeking operations.
The would-be bombers are also trained to recruit local volunteers and create new cells of suicide attackers.
All of them are fluent in Persian and Arabic, and some speak English.
Mohammadi insisted that the MIWM group has no links with Lebanons Hezbollah. Another Iranian source close to the group, named as Mohammad Ali Samadi declared: The first two groups of esteshhadioun (volunteers of martyrdom) have already reached Lebanon.
They have received adequate training to fight beside their Lebanese brothers. They will identify Zionist targets and attack them with actions of martyrdom.
The fanatics also aim to avenge deaths and injuries to people like those caught in the Israeli air strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
The deployment of suicide squads will strengthen US claims that Iran is the power behind the current turmoil in Lebanon.
Security has been stepped up amid fears of suicide attacks on soft targets in Beirut and areas close to the Israeli border where fighting is raging. A Lebanese security official said: It is the nightmare weve been dreading.
Israeli troops yesterday seized two Hezbollah guerrillas during fighting in Maroun al-Ras.
The death toll in the conflict continues to mount. At least three people died when Israeli warplanes struck a minibus carrying 16 villagers fleeing from Tairi in Lebanon.
Hezbollah continued rocket attacks across northern Israel. Two people died as more than a dozen missiles hit Haifa. One was killed in a factory on the day residents returned to work after a week of sheltering from the bombing.
A total of 17 Israelis have been killed by Hezbollah rockets and 19 Israeli troops have died. And 381 Lebanese have been killed.
A UN observer was injured in the crossfire. Italian Capt Roberto Punzo was hit in the stomach by shrapnel. He was last night undergoing surgery.
