Austria says eight of its UNIFIL troops in Lebanon injured in rocket attack

VIENNA – Eight Austrian soldiers belonging to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) sustained superficial injuries in a rocket strike on the force’s headquarters in Naqoura, Austria’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel, an area that has seen more than a year of fighting that turned into fierce clashes this month between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

“We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and demand that it be investigated immediately,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that it was not clear where the attack came from and none of the soldiers needed urgent medical care.

UNIFIL later issued a statement saying the rocket, which set a vehicle workshop ablaze, was fired from north of the site, “likely by Hizbullah or an affiliated group”, and that it had opened an investigation.

Austria contributes about 180 soldiers to the 10,000-strong force. They are part of a “Multi Role Logistic Unit” that performs roles like transporting goods and personnel, repairing vehicles, supplying fuel and firefighting.

The strike comes amid heavy fighting between Hezbollah and Israel in border areas where Israel has been making ground incursions and after a night of Israeli strikes focused on the eastern Bekaa Valley that killed more than 60 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah on Tuesday said it targeted with rockets and artillery Israeli forces southeast of the southern town of Khiyam, the deepest the group has acknowledged Israeli forces operating in Lebanon since ground operations began.

UNIFIL said earlier this month it had come under several “deliberate” attacks by Israeli forces and efforts to help civilians in villages in the war zone were being hampered by Israeli shelling.

Israel says U.N. forces provide a human shield for Hezbollah and has told UNIFIL to evacuate peacekeepers from southern Lebanon for their own safety – a request that it has refused.

Five peacekeepers had already been injured since the start of Israeli ground operation in Lebanon on Oct. 1. UNIFIL positions have been affected at least 20 times, including by direct fire and an incident on Oct. 13 when two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of a UNIFIL base, according to the U.N.

Israel has ramped up its air strikes across Lebanon over the last month, saying it is targeting Hezbollah. Lebanese officials, rights groups and residents of affected towns say the strikes are indiscriminate.

More than 2,700 Lebanese have been killed and 1.2 million Lebanese displaced. Israel says around 50 soldiers and civilians have been killed and some 60,000 residents of northern Israeli communities displaced. REUTERS