Saudi Arabia condemns the attack on UNIFIL forces in Lebanon

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, on Friday, that the Kingdom expressed its strong condemnation of the attack on the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon. This attack killed an Irish soldier and injured others.

 

 

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said that the Kingdom calls for “an immediate and transparent investigation into the circumstances of the attack.”

 

 

The ministry also expressed the Kingdom’s total rejection of all forms of violence and its support for UNIFIL.

 

 

On Thursday, a Lebanese judicial source reported that seven bullets from a military machine gun penetrated the vehicle of the Irish battalion operating in the United Nations Interim Force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), and one of them hit the driver in the head from behind.

 

 

The source stated in an interview with “Agence France Presse” that the military vehicle “was hit by seven bullets from a military machine gun,” noting that the bullets that hit the soldier who was driving “pierced his seat from behind and one of them lodged in his head,” which led to “his death instantly.”

 

 

According to the source, after being shot, the vehicle hit “an iron pole, then overturned, injuring the other three members,” one of whom is in critical condition.

 

 

The source explained that the military judiciary had taken over the investigation.

 

The government commissioner to the military court, Judge Fadi Akiki, assigned army intelligence, and the relevant security services to take the necessary measures, collect information, and request criminal evidence.

 

 

Security forces are chasing “people suspected of being involved in the incident,” and a joint investigation will likely be conducted with UNIFIL since Lebanon’s security agencies are not authorized to listen to UNIFIL members.