Lebanese Army commanded Gen. Joseph Aoun with UNIFIL’s Sector West and Italian Battalion commander Brig. Gen. Giuseppe Bertoncello in al-Tiri village in South Lebanon, December, 27, 2022. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun on Tuesday visited one of the stations of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon to honor the four Irish UNIFIL soldiers that were attacked last week, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The attack claimed the life of one peacekeeper.
In his visit to the Irish Battalion base in Tiri, South Lebanon, Aoun was quoted by the NNA as saying that he "praises the sacrifices of the UNIFIL soldiers which is working closely with the Lebanese Army to maintain peace and stability in the south."
Aoun also said that he "reaffirms the continuity of the cooperation between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL," which he described as an "essential partner in order to implement the [UN] mandate 1701."
Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others were wounded on December 14 after the UNIFIL convoy they were traveling in came under fire near the village of al-Aaqbiya in the south of the country. One of the wounded, Private Shane Kearney, was evacuated to a hospital in Ireland.
It is the first death of a UNIFIL soldier in a violent incident in Lebanon since January 2015, when a Spanish peacekeeper was killed by Israeli fire.
UNIFIL was sestablished in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.
In July 2006, Israel launched a war on Lebanon which was ended by the 1701 UN mandate that allowed UNIFIL to be deployed in border areas of South Lebanon.