Five people, including 3 Lebanese and 2 Palestinians, were arrested in connection with the roadside bombing that targeted a UNIFIL convoy in southern Lebanon last week, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said Monday.
Al-Liwaa daily quoted security sources as saying that police questioned witnesses and arrested several people to unveil the culprits behind the bombing that left six Italian peacekeepers injured on Friday.
Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion which occurred at the entrance to the southern port city of Sidon. The attack has also wounded two passers-by.
The last bomb attack on peacekeepers was in January 2008, when a roadside bomb struck a U.N. vehicle traveling along the coastal highway south of Beirut, lightly wounding two Irish peacekeepers.
Diplomatic sources told As Safir newspaper that Friday’s bombing was similar to the attack on the Irish troops. They expressed belief that the target was UNIFIL in general and not the Italian contingent in particular given that patrols only hoist U.N. flags.
Every time UNIFIL is attacked, unknown assailants fire rockets at Israel, they said. The sources unveiled that the Lebanese army foiled an attempt to fire rockets at the Jewish state two days before the attack on the Italian peacekeepers.
They also told As Safir that during the last tripartite meeting at Naqoura, Israel warned that Sunni extremist groups at the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh were planning to attack U.N. troops, the Lebanese army and Hizbullah.
The investigation is moving forward given the expertise of Lebanese investigators and the Italian military team that is taking part in the probe along with UNIFIL.
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