Tyre: A powerful bomb struck a UN
peacekeeping patrol in the Lebanese coastal town of Tyre
on Friday, wounding five French soldiers and a civilian, a
security official said.
The official, who requested anonymity, said the bomb was
hidden under dirt on the side of the road and was detonated as
the soldiers were driving by in a Jeep at an intersection in
the eastern part of the town.
Two of the wounded soldiers were taken to hospital while
the three others -- a woman and two men -- were seen by an AFP
correspondent standing by their badly damaged vehicle with
bandages on their heads.
One of them had a bloodied face. It was unclear how badly
injured the Lebanese civilian was.
The blast left a one-metre (three-foot) deep crater.
Security forces and soldiers from the UN Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) cordoned off the area as hundreds of
onlookers gathered nearby.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti confirmed that a vehicle
from the UN peacekeeping mission was hit by an explosion in
Tyre, and said a probe was underway.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati immediately
denounced the attack while stating his solidarity with UNIFIL.
"Such attacks don`t only target UNIFIL but also Lebanon`s
stability and security," Mikati said in a statement.
UNIFIL patrols have been the target of a string of
unclaimed roadside bomb attacks in recent years, including two
in 2011.
In July, six French UNIFIL troops were wounded, one of
them seriously, in a similar attack as Friday`s in the
southern coastal town of Sidon.
And in May, six Italian peacekeepers were wounded in
Sidon, also in roadside bombing.
In the worst attack, three Spanish and three Colombian
peacekeepers were killed in June 2007 when a booby-trapped car
exploded as their patrol vehicle drove by.
Today`s blast took place amid heightened tension over the
bloody uprising in neighbouring Syria, with politicians and
diplomats warning the unrest could spill over into Lebanon,
whose government is dominated by the pro-Syrian militant group
Hezbollah.
There have been constant fears that the UNIFIL force,
which is stationed in the south of the country, would be an
easy target should the unrest reach Lebanon.
MP Marwan Hamadeh, a member of the Western-backed
opposition in Lebanon, blamed Damascus for today`s attack,
saying it was orchestrated with the help of its ally
Hezbollah.
PTI
