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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Two arrested in connection with UNIFIL bombing in s. Lebanon |
| 2007-08-24 |
| The Lebanese authorities arrested two persons suspected of involvement in the July 16 bombing of a UN peacekeeping patrol in south Lebanon, the daily An Nahar reported Thursday. It said their detention came after Lebanese security forces found and seized a "remote control," which had been used and left behind in the July 16 roadside bomb that targeted a United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol on Qassmiyeh Bridge near the southern port city of Tyre. There were no casualties from the July 16 attack on the vehicle belonging to the Tanzanian contingent, which was slightly damaged. A preliminary investigation showed that the two detainees were Palestinians with links to Jund al-Sham ( Soldiers of Damascus) , an extremist armed Islamic groups, the daily said. It said the authorities were still hunting for a third suspect. Shortly after the July 16 bombing, the Lebanese government linked it to the battle between the army and the Fatah al-Islam's militants in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The Lebanese army has been battling with the militants of Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared camp since May 20. The bloodiest internal violence since the Lebanese 1975-1990 civil war has killed more than 200 people. The Lebanese government lists Fatah al-Islam as a terrorist network aimed at destabilizing Lebanon. In recent months, the UNIFIL troops have occasionally targeted by militants. On July 24, three Spaniards and three Colombians serving in the Spanish battalion were killed in a car bombing attack targeting their patrol convoy in the main road between the towns of Marjayoun and Khiam near the Israeli border. The July 24 bombing was the first deadly attack against the about 13,000-strong UNIFIL troops, which were deployed along Lebanon's border with Israel to enforce the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war last summer. |
| Posted by:Fred |