UNIFIL deputy commander injured when the convoy he was travelling in was attacked by protesters who torched UN vehicle.
The outgoing deputy commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was injured when protesters halted his convoy and torched the vehicle in which he was travelling to Beirut airport.
Major-General Chok Bahadur Dhakal was on his way to leave the country for Nepal on Friday night after completing his mission when the UNIFIL convoy taking peacekeepers to the Beirut airport was attacked by protesters. The Lebanese army intervened but not before the peacekeepers sustained injuries.
UNIFIL said in a statement that attacks on peacekeepers were a “flagrant” violation of international law and “may amount to war crimes”.
“We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Lebanon during a difficult time,” UNIFIL said.
Protesters said to be supporters of Hezbollah blocked the road to the country’s only airport for a second day on Friday, following a decision by Lebanese authorities to stop Iranian planes from landing in the capital Beirut due to allegations by the Israeli military that Iran was attempting to smuggle funds to Hezbollah using civilian flights.
The decision led to claims the Lebanese government has caved to pressure from Israel.
The Lebanese army said in a statement that acting commander Major-General Hassan Odeh had contacted UNIFIL and pledged to “work to arrest the citizens who attacked its members and bring them to justice”.
Lebanese state news agency NNA reported Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar called for an emergency meeting before noon on Saturday to discuss the security situation and describe the assault as a “crime against UNIFIL forces”.
He also gave instructions to work on identifying the perpetrators and referring them to the relevant judicial authorities.
The United States also condemned the attack that it said had “resulted in multiple injuries on UN peacekeepers”. The Department of State statement said the attack was carried out “reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters”.
“We commend the swift response of the Lebanese Armed Forces to prevent further violence, and the Lebanese government’s commitment to take all necessary measures to hold individuals accountable for their actions,” it said.
Hezbollah appeared to be attempting to distance itself from the attack with a statement shared to social media by al-Manar TV blaming “unruly elements” for having “caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road”.
The Amal Movement, the political party of parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said in a statement that “the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on southern Lebanon” and called for the army and security forces to pursue the perpetrators.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of the Israeli military from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion.
The UN expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese military extend its authority into the country’s south for the first time in decades.
Both Hezbollah and Israel regularly accuse UNIFIL of collusion, and peacekeepers have previously come under attack from Israeli forces. During the recent Israeli war on Lebanon, Israel demanded UNIFIL leave its positions in the south of the country and Israeli tanks trained their guns on peacekeepers, destroying a gate at a UNIFIL base and firing on a UNIFIL watchtower.