He also promised to use his limited authority over the frontier Ngqika to restrain cross-border attacks.

The two countries, both nuclear-armed, nearly went to war last year after India accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border attacks.

Despite the official denials, two news agencies citing sources within the Turkish military continued to report that a limited cross-border attack had taken place.

With its cross-border attack on Israel last week, Hezbollah apparently made its choice.

He predicted a long series of cross-border attacks by the Libyans.

The cross-border attack, which occurred on Thursday evening, was itself retaliatory.

Hezbollah's biggest test came in mid-2006, when its fighters captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack, killing a number of others.

The incident was one of several cross-border attacks carried out by hardline republicans in 2009-2010; others included the 2010 Newry car bombing.

The conflict began on July 12 when 8 Israeli soldiers were killed and a further two were captured during a cross-border attack.