UNIFIL post struck in southern Lebanon

UN officer claims strike was by Israeli artillery; IDF blames Hizbullah.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
unifil 88 (photo credit: )
unifil 88
(photo credit: )
A United Nations-run observation post just inside Israel was struck during fighting between Israel and Hizbullah operatives on Friday. The army blamed Hizbullah rockets, but a UN officer said it was an artillery shell fired by the IDF. A UN officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an artillery shell fired by the IDF "impacted a direct hit on the UN position overlooking Zar'it." The post is part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. But an IDF spokesman said the position, located just inside Lebanon, was hit by rockets fired by Hizbullah that fell short of their targets in northern Israel.
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The UN official said the facility was severely damaged but none of the Ghanian troops inside the bomb shelters inside were injured. In 1996, during an Israeli air and artillery offensive against Lebanon, artillery blasted a UN base at Qana in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 Lebanese civilians who had taken refuge with the peacekeepers. The mission of UNIFIL, which has nearly 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the United Nations after Israel withdrew. The force is made up of more than 1,990 troops from China, France, Ghana, Ireland, India, Italy, Poland and Ukraine.