BEIRUT, Lebanon - Attackers opened fire on a military helicopter Thursday, killing a Lebanese army officer and forcing the craft to make an emergency landing, a senior security official said.
Details about the incident were sketchy, but the official said the helicopter was on a training mission when it came under fire and was forced down in the southern highland region of Iqlim al Tuffah province.
No one else in the crew was hurt, he said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. The army was investigating, he said.
The area is a predominantly Shiite, apple-growing region southeast of the southern port city of Sidon, far from Lebanon's sensitive Syrian and Israeli borders. It's also a stronghold of Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim group, which is believed to have bases and positions there.
The area has not had clashes between Hezbollah guerrillas and Lebanese troops in the past, and the group has verbally condemned previous attacks on the army.
The Lebanese army has clashed with Sunni militants, particularly in the north, and the military has recently been targeted.
A bus bombing earlier this month in the northern city of Tripoli killed 18 people, including 10 soldiers. Last month, unknown gunmen attacked a Lebanese military post in remote northeastern Lebanon, killing one soldier and wounding another.
