India condemns attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon that killed Serbian soldier

Large plumes of smoke was seen rising following the strikes. Pics/AFP

India condemned on Thursday the attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon, which killed a Serbian soldier serving the UN.

"India reiterates the fundamental importance of respecting the sanctity and inviolability of UN premises and personnel," India's UN Mission said in a statement that condemned the attack that occurred on Wednesday.

Condemning the attack that resulted in the seventh fatality since March, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that it could amount to a war crime.

His spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic, serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), was killed when a mortar hit a UN position near Marji'yun.

Two other peacekeepers, who were wounded in the attack, are being treated at a UNIFIL medical facility in south Lebanon, he said.

"Attacks on peacekeepers must stop," Dujarric said, adding that they are grave violations of international humanitarian law.

UNIFIL said it has launched an investigation to ascertain the exact circumstances that led to the peacekeeper's death in an area of heightened tension between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, increased its attacks on Israel following the Israeli bombing of Iran, which the US joined in, and faced a deadly retaliation.

UNIFIL said it "has detected an increasingly high number of trajectories and impacts in South Lebanon. The violence must end."

Nearly 1,000 Indian peacekeepers are among the 10,800 serving in UNIFIL.

There have not been any casualties among Indians in the latest round of attacks on UNIFIL.

The Security Council voted last year to end the UNIFIL operation by the end of this year.

UNIFIL, created 48 years ago, has been struggling to keep the peace in southern Lebanon, where Israel confronts Hezbollah. One of its mandates is to strengthen the weak Lebanese military, which is caught in the middle, and to help Beirut reassert its authority over southern Lebanon.

Iran has made it a condition for Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon as a condition for a ceasefire with the US, and the US brokered a cessation of hostilities. That has been breached by Israeli attacks that have extended to Beirut.

In another attempt to restore the ceasefire, the US convened a meeting with Lebanon and Israel this week, and a renewed effort for a ceasefire was reached on Wednesday.

Guterres welcomed the announcement and called on "Hezbollah and other non-State actors to abide by the decisions of the Government of Lebanon to extend its authority throughout its territory and to advance the exclusive control over weapons by the State."

Dujarric said, "He also calls on Israel to withdraw completely from north of the Blue Line, in full respect for Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity." Israel advanced beyond the Blue Line, which has effectively separated Israel and Lebanon.

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