Unanimous condemnation of attack that killed six UN peacekeepers
Beirut (AsiaNews/Agencies) – No one has yet claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack that killed six UN peacekeepers, three Spaniards and three Colombians. All six were members of the UNIFIL force involved in southern Lebanon for the past ten months.
Hezbollah was quick to denounce what it called an attack aimed at destabilising the country, saying it "hurts the people of the south and of Lebanon."
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud also "strongly denounced" the incident that he said aimed to destabilise Lebanon.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called his Spanish counterpart and UNIFIL commander, General Claudio Graziano, to decry the bombing.
The Lebanese opposition flocked to condemn the bombing.
This is the first attack against the United Nations in the area since the end of last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah.
A powerful car bomb exploded hitting the peacekeepers' vehicles which were moving on a road near Dardara just five kilometres from the blue line that separates Lebanon and Israel since 2000.
Initial reports said it appeared the explosion was triggered by remote control. Later body parts were found in a car, leading investigators to believe that it was triggered by a suicide bomber.
For several months UNIFIL officials had warned that they might be targeted by Sunni militants.
Tensions had been running high between peace-keepers and Fatah al-Islam, an al Qaeda-inspired Sunni group, which has been battling Lebanese troops in a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli for the past five weeks,
The group has accused UNIFIL of bombarding their camp, a charge UNIFIL has flatly denied.
Still UNIFIL had gone on higher alert after the Nahr al-Bared camp fighting began.
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03/08/2010
