عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

UN Force in Lebanon Urges Swift Probe into Irish Peacekeeper’s Death 

The United Nations and the Ireland flags fly at half-staff, at the UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, Lebanon, Friday Dec. 16, 2022. (AP)
The United Nations and the Ireland flags fly at half-staff, at the UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, Lebanon, Friday Dec. 16, 2022. (AP)
TT
TT

UN Force in Lebanon Urges Swift Probe into Irish Peacekeeper’s Death 

The United Nations and the Ireland flags fly at half-staff, at the UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, Lebanon, Friday Dec. 16, 2022. (AP)
The United Nations and the Ireland flags fly at half-staff, at the UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, Lebanon, Friday Dec. 16, 2022. (AP)

The United Nations' peacekeeping force in south Lebanon on Friday urged Beirut to ensure a "speedy" investigation into an Irish soldier's shooting death near the Israeli border.  

The peacekeeper's convoy came under fire late Wednesday near the village of Al-Aqbiya, the Irish military said, wounding three other members of the UN force UNIFIL.  

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and army chief Joseph Aoun visited on Friday the UNIFIL headquarters in the border town of Naqura, denouncing the attack that claimed private Sean Rooney's life. 

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti called it "a very serious incident" and told reporters it was "important" for the Lebanese authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. 

"It is a crime against the international community, against peacekeepers who are here... to maintain stability," he added. 

It is the first death of a UNIFIL member in a violent incident in Lebanon since January 2015, when a Spanish peacekeeper was killed during retaliatory Israeli fire.  

"Peacekeepers are continuing with their activities and patrolling," Tenenti said.  

UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.  

Now with nearly 10,000 troops, the UN force acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon, which remain technically at war.  

Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 but fought a devastating 2006 war with the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah and its allies.  

UNIFIL was beefed up to oversee the ceasefire that ended that conflict.  

Bullet to the head  

Witnesses said villagers in the Al-Aqbiya area, a Hezbollah stronghold, blocked Rooney's vehicle after it took a road along the Mediterranean coast not normally used by the United Nations force.  

A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that the peacekeeper was killed by a bullet to the head when seven projectiles pierced the vehicle.  

The three others were injured when the vehicle hit a pylon and overturned, the source added.  

Following a meeting in Naqura with the force's commander, Major General Aroldo Lazaro, Lebanon's Mikati said "the investigation continues in order to determine the circumstances of the incident."  

The Lebanese premier said it was "important" to prevent similar attacks, and promised "those who will be proven guilty will be punished".  

A spokesman for Ireland's army told AFP that a specialist team was expected in Lebanon on Saturday to launch an investigation of the attack.  

Over the years there have been a number of incidents between Hezbollah supporters and the UN force in border areas loyal to the armed group.  

Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah's security chief, told Lebanon's LBCI television that the incident was "unintentional" and called for investigators to be given time to establish the facts.  

Relations between UNIFIL and communities in south Lebanon have "always been very positive", the force's spokesman said on Friday.  

"The support of the communities is paramount in order for us to implement our mandate." 

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Syrian Opposition Fighters Sweep into Aleppo, Army Says Dozens of Soldiers Killed

A billboard bearing a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and a national flag are torn by anti-government fighters in the northern city of Aleppo on November 30, 2024. (AFP)
A billboard bearing a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and a national flag are torn by anti-government fighters in the northern city of Aleppo on November 30, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Syrian Opposition Fighters Sweep into Aleppo, Army Says Dozens of Soldiers Killed

A billboard bearing a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and a national flag are torn by anti-government fighters in the northern city of Aleppo on November 30, 2024. (AFP)
A billboard bearing a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and a national flag are torn by anti-government fighters in the northern city of Aleppo on November 30, 2024. (AFP)

The Syrian army said on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack by opposition fighters who swept into the city of Aleppo in the northwest, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.

The surprise attack led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has jolted the frontlines of the Syrian civil war that have largely been frozen since 2020, reviving fighting in a corner of the fractured country near the Turkish border. The army said it was preparing a counteroffensive to restore state authority.

Acknowledging the opposition advance, the Syrian army command said the factions had entered large parts of Aleppo, which had been under full state control since government forces backed by Russia and Iran drove opposition factions out eight years ago.

Images from Aleppo showed a group of opposition fighters gathered in the city's Saadallah al-Jabiri Square after entering the city overnight, a billboard of Assad looming behind them.

"I am the son of Aleppo, and was displaced from it eight years ago, in 2016. Thank God we just returned. It is an indescribable feeling," said Ali Jumbaa, a fighter, television footage showed.

The Syrian military command said militants had attacked in large numbers and from multiple directions, prompting "our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defense lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack".

The army said bombardment had stopped the fighters from establishing fixed positions. It promised to "expel them and restore the control of the state ... over the entire city and its countryside".

Two opposition sources said the fighters had also captured the city of Maraat al-Numan in Idlib province, bringing all of that province under their control, in what would be another significant blow to Assad.

The fighting revives the long-simmering Syrian conflict as the wider region is roiled by wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday.

The attack was launched from opposition-held areas of northwestern Syria that remain outside Assad's grasp.

Two Syrian military sources said that Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted opposition fighters in an Aleppo suburb on Saturday.

Speaking on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow regarded the opposition attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty. "We are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible," he said.

The Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue service operating in opposition-held parts of Syria, said in a post on X that Syrian government and Russian aircraft carried out airstrikes on residential neighborhoods, a gas station and a school in opposition-held Idlib, killing four civilians and wounding six others.

The two Syrian military sources said Russia has promised Damascus extra military aid that would start arriving in the next 72 hours. Authorities closed Aleppo airport and roads to the city, the two military sources and a third army source said.

The Syrian army has been told to follow "safe withdrawal" orders from the main areas of the city that the opposition fighters had entered, the three military sources said.

IRAN'S ROLE IN THE REGION

The opposition, including factions backed by Türkiye, said on Friday their fighters were sweeping through various Aleppo neighborhoods.

Mustafa Abdul Jaber, a commander in the Jaish al-Izza brigade, said their speedy advance had been helped by a lack of Iran-backed manpower to support the government in the broader Aleppo province.

Iran's allies in the region have suffered a series of blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war has expanded through the Middle East.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart on Friday, accused the United States and Israel of being behind the opposition attack.

The fighters have said the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air forces on areas of Idlib province, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army.

Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Türkiye, which supports the fighters, had given a green light to the offensive. Turkish officials were not immediately available to comment on Saturday.

Türkiye’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the clashes between opposition and government forces had resulted in an undesirable escalation of tensions.

In a statement, spokesperson Oncu Keceli said that avoiding greater instability in the region was Türkiye’s priority, adding that Ankara had warned that recent attacks on Idlib undermined the spirit and implementation of de-escalation agreements.