Wadi Saluki - Hellfire from Hezbollah, Aug. 2006

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The Battle of Wadi Saluki was a long time coming. The units of the IDF 401st Brigade had been waiting for weeks for orders as they sat taking incoming Hezbollah attacks. Orders had come in twice to proceed and twice were cancelled. The canyon like Saluki is a "gateway to the Litani river", an essential objective in southern Lebanon assigned to the brigade before the cease-fire went into action. On August 11, just before 1500 hours, orders came in, but at this late stage, made no sense to the brigade staff. Crossing the Saluki meant the troops and tanks had to climb a steep hill while exposed to attack from mountains on every side.

Understanding the risk to tanks, Division 162 deployed its Nahal Brigade infantry on the high ground outside the villages Ghandouriya and Farun, to provide cover for the armored column advancing below. The distance from one plateau to another across the steep valley is only a half mile. Both towns that the IDF attempted to screen were still in enemy hands and both a good half mile from the edge of the Saluki Valley. Russian-made AT- 14 Kornet anti-tank missiles waited en-masse in excellent firing positions. IDF tanks would attempt to climb along a narrow dirt track just below this area! There would be no air support nor artillery support. Thus, began the IDF tank assault with its latest Merkava 4 tank, 24 of them, which some called murderous and suicidal.