An Irish UN peacekeeper was killed and several others were injured after unidentified assailants opened fire on a convoy in south Lebanon, Irish and Lebanese military officials said on Thursday.
The Irish Defense Forces said in a statement that a pair of armored vehicles carrying eight Irish UNIFIL peacekeeping troops were attacked as they drove north towards Beirut on Wednesday night from the city of Al-Aqbiya.
The Irish Army identified the slain peacekeeper as Pvt. Seán Rooney of Newtwoncunningham. It found that one of the three wounded soldiers was in serious condition. He did not identify the attackers.
UNIFIL confirmed that one peacekeeper was killed and three injured, but did not share further details.
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“Our thoughts are also with local civilians who may have been injured or frightened during the incident,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said, adding that “details are scarce and conflicting.” Tenenti added that UNIFIL was coordinating with the Lebanese army and trying to “determine exactly what happened”.
A person with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said the armored vehicle carrying the peacekeepers had overturned while trying to flee the scene after locals started to shoot.
A damaged United Nations peacekeeping vehicle is shown at the scene where a convoy of United Nations peacekeepers was attacked in Al-Aqbiya village in southern Lebanon on December 15, 2022.
(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Local residents became angry and aggressive when two UNIFIL armored vehicles, bound for Beirut airport, detoured through Al-Aqbiya, which is not part of the area under UNIFIL’s mandate, the person said .
It is not yet clear whether the victim died as a result of gunshots or from injuries sustained in the crash, the person added.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemned the incident, while Lebanese interim prime minister Najib Mikati’s office issued a statement calling for an investigation.
Mikati “praised the sacrifices UNIFIL forces have made to maintain peace in the south, which reflects stability for the people of the region and Lebanon in general,” the statesmen said.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin expressed his condolences in a statement on Twitter.
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“It reminds us that our peacekeepers serve under dangerous circumstances, at all times, in the cause of peace,” he said.
Cellphone videos circulated online show one of the two UNIFIL vehicles speeding to leave the area as it was shot at. Some residents were visible filming the incident. Another video showed the vehicle overturned after crashing into the aluminum shutters of a building, with an injured Peacekeeper on the ground next to it.
Al-Manar TV, run by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, said a UNIFIL vehicle had “run over” a group of residents who had gathered to watch the World Cup semi-final between Morocco and France. A Hezbollah spokesman contacted by the Associated Press declined to comment on the peacekeeper’s death “until we have all the data”.
Clashes between residents of southern Lebanon and UNIFIL troops are not uncommon. In January, unknown assailants attacked Irish peacekeepers in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, vandalizing their vehicles and stealing items. Residents accused them of taking photographs of residential houses, although the UN mission has denied this.
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UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after the 1978 invasion. The UN expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and the Hezbollah group, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Lebanese-Israel border to help the Lebanese army extend its authority in the south of the country for the first time in decades.
That resolution also called for a complete cessation of Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities, which has not happened.
