Israel bomb kills 4 UN observers
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-26 06:12
BEIRUT, July 25 - An Israeli air strike on Tuesday hit a U.N. base in
southern Lebanon, killing four United Nations observers, Lebanese security
sources said.
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Smoke
rises from Khiam village after being hit by Israeli air strikes, in
southern Lebanon, July 25, 2006. [Reuters] | The
UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon confirmed that there were U.N. casualties
but declined to say if any observers had been killed at the base, which appears
to have collapsed while the U.N. observers were in the shelter.
"One aerial bomb directly impacted the building and shelter in the base of
the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon in the area of Khiam," said Milos
Strugar, a UNIFIL spokesman.
"There are casualties among the observers. A UNIFIL dispatched rescue team
which is on the spot is still unable to clear the rubble," he said.
"There were 14 other incidents of firing close to this position in the
afternoon from the Israeli side and the firing continued during the rescue
operation," he said.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli army spokeswoman said the military was investigating
the report.
In Rome, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan declined immediate comment on the
bombing. "We are trying to get more details".
An Israeli tank shell hit a UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon on Monday,
wounding four Ghanaian soldiers. Shrapnel from tank shells fired from the
Israeli side seriously wounded an Indian soldier last week and Hizbollah fire
wounded an Italian observer on the border on Sunday.
In 1996, during Israel's Grapes of Wrath campaign in Lebanon, an Israeli jet
bombed a UNIFIL compound in the southern village of Qana, killing 106 civilians
sheltering inside.
UNIFIL was created in 1978 after Israel's first major invasion of southern
Lebanon and has been there ever since. The United Nations has called for a
bigger, better armed, more robust international force in the area.
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