Bomb in South Lebanon Wounds 3 Peacekeepers

Posted July 26th, 2011 at 12:25 pm (UTC-5)
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A bomb in Lebanon has wounded at least three U.N. peacekeepers, the second blast to target a U.N. convoy in as many months.

Lebanese security officials said Tuesday's blast rocked the entrance of the southern port of Sidon as a U.N. patrol with French peacekeepers drove past. Rescue teams had to evacuate at least one of the peacekeepers to the hospital.

A similar attack near Sidon in May wounded six Italian U.N. peacekeepers.

A U.N. peacekeeping force of about 12,000 soldiers and 1,000 civilians is deployed in southern Lebanon to monitor the border with Israel following the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

The country has experienced turmoil since January concerning a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

A Hezbollah-led group withdrew from the prime minister's national unity Cabinet that month due to disagreements about the tribunal's investigation.

Hezbollah denies involvement in the killing.

The U.N.-backed court handed indictments and arrest warrants in the case to Lebanon in late June.

Lebanese officials say the documents accuse members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group of carrying out the assassination.