Three UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured in an explosion at a UNIFIL post in southern Lebanon, in El Adeisse, in the Spanish-led Eastern Sector. Italian soldiers from the Sassari Brigade were not involved. The injured are all Indonesians. The emergency occurred approximately 45 kilometers northeast of Shama, home to the Italian contingent and the command of the mission's Western Sector.
"This afternoon, an explosion inside a UN post injured three peacekeepers, two of them seriously . They are all currently being evacuated to the hospital. We do not yet know the source of the explosion," said spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel. An Indonesian peacekeeper was killed on Sunday and two others the following day in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border.
This situation was also brought to the attention of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. The Sassari Brigade, which leads the western sector of the Blue Line in Lebanon from Shama, is scheduled to continue its mission until December, but an early termination is not ruled out.
Crosetto has written to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, requesting a review of the UN peacekeeping forces' rules of engagement. Without changes, the option of withdrawing the contingent remains on the table.
(Unioneonline)