BEIRUT (AP) — An Irish U.N. peacekeeper was killed and a number of other others wounded after unidentified attackers opened fire on a convoy in southern Lebanon, Irish and Lebanese military officials said Thursday.
The Irish Defense Forces said in a press release said that a pair of armored vehicles carrying eight Irish UNIFIL peacekeeping troops were fired at as they drove north, toward Beirut, Tuesday night from the town of Al-Aqbiya.
The Irish military added that one among the three wounded soldiers is in serious condition. It didn’t discover the assailants.
UNIFIL confirmed that one peacekeeper was killed and three were wounded.
“Our thoughts are also with the local civilians who could have been injured or frightened through the incident,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said, adding that “details are sparse and conflicting.” Tenenti added that UNIFIL is coordinating with the military and attempting to “determine exactly what happened.”
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Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin expressed his condolences in a press release on Twitter.
“It’s a reminder that our peacekeepers serve in dangerous circumstances, in any respect times, within the explanation for peace,” he said.
Cellphone videos circulated online shows one among the 2 UNIFIL vehicles speeding to go away the world while it was shot at. Some residents were visible filming the incident. One other showed the vehicle had rolled over after crashing into the aluminum shutters of a constructing, with a wounded peacekeeper on the on ground beside it.
Scuffles between southern Lebanon residents and UNIFIL troops usually are not unusual. In January, unknown perpetuators attacked Irish peacekeepers within the southern town of Bint Jbeil, vandalizing their vehicles and stealing items. The residents accused them of taking photographs of residential homes, though the U.N. denied this.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission following the 2006 war, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to assist the Lebanese military extend their authority into their country’s south for the primary time in many years. That resolution also called for a full cessation of Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities, which has not happened.
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