Italy peacekeeper dies in Lebanon blast against UN

An Italian peacekeeper was killed and several people wounded as a roadside bomb targeting a UN patrol exploded along a highway in south Lebanon yesterday, the Italian news agency and security sources said. The incident came two days before the United...

An Italian peacekeeper was killed and several people wounded as a roadside bomb targeting a UN patrol exploded along a highway in south Lebanon yesterday, the Italian news agency and security sources said.

The incident came two days before the United Nations marks Peacekeepers Day.

Ansa news agency reported that the soldier serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed and at least one other seriously wounded in the blast as they patrolled the coastal city of Sidon.

“In principle we have one fallen and one gravely injured,” said an Italian defence ministry spokes­man, contacted by AFP in Rome. Neeraj Singh, a Unifil spokes­man in Beirut said six soldiers were wounded – one seriously - along with two civilians in the explosion, for which no group immediately claimed responsibility.

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