The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported this Wednesday that one of its bases in the southeast of the country has been hit by several shots of unknown origin, with no casualties recorded among its personnel.
The incident took place early in the morning in the town of Kfarchouba, an area where the Israeli Army is also deployed as part of the offensive that has involved the invasion of southern Lebanon.
According to the mission, the UNIFIL installation is located next to the boundary marked by the Blue Line. The peacekeeping force has confirmed "impacts from small arms fire" and detailed that the blue helmets "took cover as soon as they identified the first burst of shots."
"No one was injured," emphasized UNIFIL, which indicated that most of the projectiles hit the perimeter wall of the base, although some struck vehicles and several areas of the compound.
The UN mission has opened an investigation to clarify what happened and has described as particularly "unacceptable" that, after the first burst, a second occurred, especially considering it was "a clearly marked position" of the peacekeeping force.
In its statement, UNIFIL warned that "these deliberate attacks pose a serious risk to the lives of peacekeeping personnel, and we strongly remind all actors of their obligations under international law to ensure the safety of United Nations personnel and property at all times."
The mission also emphasized that "any attack against UNIFIL peacekeeping personnel constitutes a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law and Security Council Resolution 1701 and may constitute a war crime."