BEIRUT: Israel launched dozens of airstrikes in south Lebanon on Thursday, in one of its heaviest bombardments of the region since a ceasefire ended last year`s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanon`s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said `Israeli warplanes carried out a wide-scale aerial aggression on the Nabatiyeh region, launching a series of heavy raids in two waves` targeting hills and valleys in the area, located around 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border.

The NNA said `huge explosions... echoed in most areas of Nabatiyeh and the south`, causing `terror and panic` among residents, who rushed to pick up their children from school, as ambulances headed to the targeted areas. An eyewitness saw smoke rising from hills in the region. Lebanon`s Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and another eight wounded in the strikes.

Israel, which inflicted huge damage on Hezbollah during last year`s war, has been carrying out airstrikes in Lebanon on a regular basis since the ceasefire.-AFP