Nasrallah downplays loss of Maroun al-Ras

Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah downplayed in an interview published Monday Hizbullah's loss of the strategic border village of Maroun al-Ras, saying that Israel's media has hyped up the first major ground operation of the 13-day-old confrontation "as if it's the conquest of Stalingrad." He said Israel's losses in the fighting for Maroun al-Ras showed the weakness of its army. Five IDF soldiers were killed in the fighting there.