Asia

Home page

Asia

Hezbollah condemns attack on UNIFIL

10 December 2011 00:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah condemned Friday’s attack on a French peacekeeping patrol near the southern city of Tyre which left five French peacekeepers and one Lebanese civilian wounded, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Hezbollah condemns the attack ... and considers that it targets Lebanon’s security and the stability of south Lebanon specifically. (The party) calls on Lebanese security services to work hard and put an end to these attacks," the party’s media office said in a statement.

A roadside bomb ripped through a four-wheel drive vehicle belonging to the French contingent serving with UNIFIL in the southern port city of Tyre, around 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) Friday.

The attack drew condemnation from Lebanon’s three top officials: President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

During a security meeting that Mikati chaired at his headquarters, he said the attacks also target the security of Lebanese, especially southerners.

"Such attacks will not affect the work of the UNIFIL in the south, especially the French contingent, nor affect voluntary countries’ commitment to implementing Resolution 1701," he was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Sleiman said during a visit to Armenia that the attack was intended to force UNIFIL to withdraw from Lebanon and obstruct its work as a peacekeeping force in the south.

He added that France has sacrificed so much for Lebanon and it will not succumb to what he described as terrorist attacks.

A statement by the French Ambassador to Beirut issued hours following the attack said France remained committed to its role as part of UNIFIL.