The UN Security Council expressed on Thursday deep concern about the latest incident along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel, and called both sides to refrain from further actions.

In a press statement read out by the President of the Council, Ambassador Peter Burian of Slovakia, the Council appealed to all parties to respect the Blue Line in its entirety, to exercise utmost restraint and to refrain from any action that could further escalate the situation.

"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong support for UNIFIL and reiterated their call for full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701," the president said after receiving a briefing from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on the serious incident.

Late on Wednesday night, Lebanese troops opened fire on an Israeli bulldozer after it crossed a southern border area and entered about 20 yards into Lebanon, Hezbollah Al Manar TV reported.

Local press also quoted Israeli army as saying that shooting erupted on the Israel-Lebanon border during an Israeli operation to search for bombs planted by Hezbollah guerrillas.

It was the first time that the exchange of fire between the two sides erupted across the border since an Aug. 14 cease-fire that ended a 34-day war between Israeli forces and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2007)