Israeli forces again attack UNIFIL headquarters in southern Lebanon, Sri Lankan peacekeepers injured

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Israeli forces on Friday launched another attack on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in southern Lebanon, injuring several Sri Lankan peacekeepers stationed there.

According to Lebanon's official National News Agency, an Israeli Merkava tank targeted one of UNIFIL's observation towers on the main road connecting Tyre to Naqoura, in front of a Lebanese Army checkpoint, injuring the Sri Lankan contingent stationed there.

It said Israeli artillery fired a shell that struck the main entrance of the UNIFIL command center in Naqoura, causing damage to the site.

UNIFIL's command center in Naqoura has been targeted by Israeli military artillery for the second time in three days.

On Thursday, the UN peacekeeping force said UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura and several of its troops’ positions were repeatedly shelled by Israeli forces, injuring two troops.

The situation remains tense as UNIFIL operates in a challenging environment amid ongoing military actions in the region.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,351 people, injuring over 3,800 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,000 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara