A bomb attack in southern Lebanon has killed an Israeli soldier and wounded at least six others.

The attack happened in the Blat area, in the western part of the Israeli-occupied zone.

Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas issued a statement saying that its forces had detonated a powerful bomb at 1230 local time (1030 GMT), as a patrol of nine Israeli infantrymen passed by.

"The explosion caused many enemy casualties," it said.

Lebanese security officials confirmed that one soldier had died and six were wounded in the attack.

Israeli warplanes staged two retaliatory bombing raids against suspected guerrilla hideouts.

Previous attacks

The latest fatality brings to five the number of Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah in south Lebanon since the beginning of the year.

Three of them were killed in an attack last Monday near the heavily fortified former crusader castle of Beaufort - one of Israel's most important military positions in the region.

The previous day, the same group killed Colonel Akel Hashem, deputy head of the pro-Israel militia, the South Lebanon Army.

Israel responded by launching repeated attacks against Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon.

Israeli retaliation

Helicopter gunships struck against the village of Jarjaua, which is thought to be used as an infiltration route by Hezbollah.

On Friday, the guerrilla group said Israel had failed in an 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.

Earlier, the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army abandoned a hilltop outpost at Sujoud, after it had reportedly come under heavy attack from Hezbollah.

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