Katyusha rockets hit Israeli town of Haifa

JERUSALEM: Two Katyusha rockets hit Israel's third largest city of Haifa on Thursday evening, in the first ever attack so far south of the volatile border with Lebanon, an army spokeswoman said.           

The two projectiles, fired by Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, struck a neighbourhood on Mount Carmel near downtown Haifa. There were no immediate reports of any casualties.       

It was the first time such an attack has ever struck Haifa, a bustling Mediterranean port about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Lebanese border.      

Israel had threatened to attack residential areas of Beirut should Hezbollah fire rockets at Haifa, as threatened earlier by the Lebanese Shiite fundamentalist movement.           

Two Israelis have been killed and more than 35 civilians wounded in towns across northern Israel in a blitz of rockets fired by Hezbollah guerrillas, as local residents fled to bomb shelters and reinforced rooms seeking protection.