Irish soldier killed while serving with UN peace keeping mission in Lebanon.
Ireland’s defence minister announced on Thursday that an Irish soldier was shot dead while serving with the United Nations in Lebanon, and a second was seriously injured when a hostile mob surrounded their armoured vehicle.
When the shooting occurred in Al-Aqbieh late on Wednesday, the soldiers, who are a part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), were travelling in two vehicles on what Simon Coveney, who is also Ireland’s foreign minister, described as a ‘standard run’ from UNIFIL’s area of operations in south Lebanon to Beirut.
‘Effective separation occurred between the two armoured vehicles. Shots were fired when one of them was surrounded by a hostile mob, which is the only word I can imagine to describe them. Sadly, one of our peacekeeping personnel was killed,’ Coveney said to RTE, Ireland’s national network.
‘Not what was anticipated. Yes, there has recently been some conflict between Hezbollah soldiers and UNIFIL on the ground, but nothing this intense,’ said Coveney.
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