The Hezbollah guerrilla group says Israel failed in its attempt to assassinate one of its senior commanders in southern Lebanon.

Six civilians, including a woman and her two children, were wounded when an Israeli helicopter gunship fired two missiles at a car in which the group's senior leader was travelling near the city of Tyre.

The attacks came only hours after the Israel-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA) abandoned a position in the north of the zone which Israel occupies across the south of Lebanon.

Israeli radio and television reported the assassination attempt was in retaliation for the recent killings of Israeli soldiers and the second-in-command of the SLA.

The armed wing of Islamic militant group Hezbollah said it would respond at a time of its choosing to the attacks, which some reports also said wounded the fighter, who has not been named.

"The Zionist helicopters, which tried to strike the car of one of the officers of the Islamic Resistance failed in their attempt, as he managed to get out between two salvos," said a Hezbollah statement issued in Beirut.

The statement described the raid as a "flagrant violation" of the April 1996 accord under which both sides agreed to refrain from targeting civilians or launching attacks from civilian areas.

The injured civilians included a mother and daughter, and at least four others who were standing near the car that was blown up during the attack.

Israeli jets also attacked other targets in south Lebanon for the sixth successive day on Friday.

Withdrawal

The hilltop outpost at Sujoud which pro-Israeli forces abandoned overnight on Thursday had reportedly come under heavy attack from Hezbollah guerrillas in recent days.

The Israeli army said the redeployment was for "operational reasons" and the SLA men had been transferred to two other nearby positions.

Israel maintains numerous such outposts in strategic positions deep into south Lebanon which come under regular attack by Lebanese guerrillas.

Correspondents say the withdrawal from Sujoud - one of its most northern outposts - appears to be a bid to cut casualties by moving from exposed positions to safer bases.

Threat to peacekeepers

An increase in violence in over the last three months has led the United Nations interim force in south Lebanon (Unfil) to consider relocating some of its more exposed bases.

Spokesman Timor Goksel told the AFP news agency on Friday that the UN peacekeepers have "many positions coming under fire every day".

He blamed the situation on unprovoked "pre-emptive fire" from the Israeli side, as well as the habit of resistance groups firing at the Israelis and the SLA from close to UN bases which provoked return fire.

"We might have to consider, as the last resort, relocating some of our most exposed positions," Mr Goksel said, although he was aware that such moves could cause panic among south Lebanon's beleagured civilians