Israeli troops on Wednesday seized several Hezbollah militants during an airborne operation in the eastern Lebanese town of Baalbek, a stronghold of Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah, the military said in a statement.

All the Israeli soldiers returned unharmed to their base, the military said, without giving further details.

The television channel al-Manar of Hezbollah reported early Wednesday that Hezbollah guerrillas clashed with a team of Israeli paratroopers west of Baalbek.

The Israeli army launched an airborne operation north of Baalbek late Tuesday night following its daytime airborne operation in southern Lebanon.

Israeli paratroopers with air and tank backup had been operating in southern Lebanon since pre-dawn Tuesday after Israel's security cabinet decided to widen ground offensives in Lebanon, according to the Israeli army.