4 Killed When Israeli Bomb Hits U.N. Post

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

(07-25) 15:01 PDT BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) --

A U.N. observer post was hit by an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon Tuesday, killing four peacekeepers, U.N. officials said.

A bomb directly hit the building and shelter of an Indian patrol base from the observer force in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said in New York that the Security Council was informed that four officers with UNIFIL were killed, but he had no other information.

"We're obviously very sorry," Boltin said. "We're attempting to get information where we can to confirm the nature of the incident."

Struger also said there were 14 other incidents of firing close to this position from the Israeli side Tuesday afternoon. "The firing continued even during the rescue operation," he said.

Since Israel launched a massive military offensive against Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas July 12, an international civilian employee working with UNIFIL and his wife have been killed in the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas in the southern port city of Tyre.

Five UNIFIL soldiers and one military observer have also been wounded, Struger said.


URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/07/25/international/i150154D50.DTL