BEIRUT, Lebanon: UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said two of their troops were killed on Monday, bringing to three the number of blue helmets killed in 24 hours in the country´s south, where Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said two peacekeepers were killed and two others wounded, one of them seriously, “when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle” in south Lebanon near the border.
Also in the south, Lebanon´s army said an Israeli strike killed one of its soldiers, while a security source told AFP that three Hezbollah members were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut´s southern suburbs.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East conflict when the Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2 in revenge for the killing of Iran´s supreme leader, the opening salvo in the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.
Israel has responded with large-scale air strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive in the south. Lebanese authorities say more than 1,200 people have been killed since the hostilities began.
UNIFIL said it had launched an investigation into the deadly incident, which came a day after an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three other blue helmets wounded when a projectile, also of unknown provenance, exploded near a UNIFIL position. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, strongly condemned “these unacceptable incidents”, adding that “all acts that endanger the peacekeepers must stop”. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned “the targeting of peacekeeping forces” in a phone call with UNIFIL´s commander.
