NEW YORK CITY: The UN Interim Force in Lebanon has launched an investigation after two of its peacekeepers were killed and two injured by an explosion in the south of the country on Monday.
The blast destroyed a UNIFIL vehicle near the village of Bani Hayyan. The injuries to one of the wounded, who was being treated at a hospital in Beirut, were described as severe.
It was the second fatal incident involving peacekeepers in the space of 24 hours. On Sunday, a member of the UN force from Indonesia was killed by an explosion inside a UNIFIL base at Ett Taibe in Sector East. Another person was critically wounded and taken to a hospital in Beirut.
“We have launched an investigation to determine what happened,” UNIFIL said of the latest incident.
The UN’s peacekeeping chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, strongly condemned the attack. He told reporters in New York that “the origin of the explosion is not yet determined,” and UNIFIL continues to operate under dangerous conditions.
