UNIFIL deputy commander wounded when convoy he travelled in was attacked by protesters who set his UN car on hearth.
The outgoing deputy commander of the United Nations Interim Drive in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was injured when protesters halted his convoy and torched the car by which he was travelling to Beirut’s airport.
Main-Common Chok Bahadur Dhakal was on his option to depart the nation for Nepal on Friday evening after finishing his mission when the UNIFIL convoy taking peacekeepers to the airport was attacked by protesters. The Lebanese military intervened however not earlier than the UN peacekeepers sustained accidents.
UNIFIL stated in a press release that assaults on peacekeepers have been a “flagrant” violation of worldwide regulation and “might quantity to warfare crimes”.
“We’re shocked by this outrageous assault on peacekeepers who’ve been serving to revive safety and stability to south Lebanon throughout a troublesome time,” UNIFIL stated.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on Saturday condemned the assault, saying safety forces is not going to tolerate anybody who tries to destabilise the nation. Aoun “emphasised that the attackers will obtain their punishment”, a press release from the presidency stated on X.
‘Deliver them to justice’
Protesters stated to be supporters of Hezbollah blocked the street to the nation’s solely airport for a second day on Friday, following a call by Lebanese authorities to cease Iranian planes from touchdown within the capital Beirut due to allegations by the Israeli navy that Tehran is trying to smuggle funds to Hezbollah utilizing civilian flights.
The choice led to claims the Lebanese authorities has caved to stress from Israel.
The Lebanese military stated in a press release performing commander Main-Common Hassan Odeh had contacted UNIFIL and pledged to “work to arrest the residents who attacked its members and produce them to justice”.
Lebanese state information company NNA reported Inside Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar referred to as for an emergency assembly earlier than midday on Saturday to debate the safety scenario and describe the assault as a “crime towards UNIFIL forces”.
He additionally gave directions to work on figuring out the perpetrators and referring them to the related judicial authorities.
The US additionally condemned the assault it stated “resulted in a number of accidents on UN peacekeepers”. The Division of State assertion stated the assault was carried out “reportedly by a bunch of Hezbollah supporters”.
“We commend the swift response of the Lebanese Armed Forces to stop additional violence, and the Lebanese authorities’s dedication to take all essential measures to carry people accountable for his or her actions,” it stated.
Hezbollah seemed to be trying to distance itself from the assault with a press release shared on social media by al-Manar TV blaming “unruly parts” for having “triggered chaos with suspicious aims on the Beirut airport street”.
The Amal Motion, the political social gathering of parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, stated in a press release “the assault on UNIFIL is an assault on southern Lebanon” and referred to as for the military and safety forces to pursue the perpetrators.
UNIFIL was created to supervise the withdrawal of the Israeli navy from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion.
The UN expanded its mission following the 2006 warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, permitting peacekeepers to deploy alongside the Israeli border to assist the Lebanese navy prolong its authority into the nation’s south for the primary time in many years.
Each Hezbollah and Israel commonly accuse UNIFIL of collusion, and peacekeepers have beforehand come beneath assault from Israeli forces.
Throughout the current Israeli warfare on Lebanon, Israel demanded UNIFIL depart its positions within the south of the nation and Israeli tanks educated their weapons on peacekeepers, destroying a gate at a UNIFIL base and firing on a UNIFIL watchtower.
