The convoy of hundreds of cars carrying 350 Lebanese soldiers and about 3,000 civilians fleeing the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun was hit by several missiles fired by Israeli military planes near Kefraya village in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, said the witnesses.

Several military and civilian vehicles were destroyed in the Israeli air raid, they added.

Israeli troops took Marjayoun on early Thursday and UN peacekeeping troops helped evacuate the Lebanese soldiers there.

The soldiers and a large number of civilians started leaving the town in the convoy earlier on Friday.

The Lebanese Interior Ministry said that the soldiers would be escorted by the UN forces to a northern area controlled by the Lebanese government.

The deadly Israeli strike came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the Israeli army to expand ground operations in Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes have kept up intense bombardments in Lebanon since violence broke out on July 12 following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah guerillas.

Over 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the 31 days of fighting.