Lebanon's Hizbullah has trained Shiite fighters from Iraq in advanced guerrilla warfare tactics, according to Mehdi army fighters who have been confronting British forces in the south of the country. Members of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia told The Independent they had received instruction from from Hizbullah.

One Iraqi militiaman, named only as Abu Muhannad, said he had spent a month in Southern Lebanon. "I was one of the experienced fighters from the Mehdi army to go for training there," he said. "We learned how to take advantage of an armoured vehicle's weakness, and how to wait and kill the soldiers who try to escape."

Earlier this year, the US military said it had captured a Hizbullah fighter in southern Iraq who had been involved in the abduction and killing of American soldiers. Hizbullah has been denying the allegations.

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