The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said an explosion occurred at a United Nations facility near Adais on Friday afternoon, injuring three peacekeepers and sending them to hospital.Two people were seriously injured.The United Nations Information Center in Jakarta said the “cause of the explosion” was not yet clear but confirmed that the injured soldier was Indonesian.“Repeated attacks or such incidents are unacceptable,” Indonesia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.“Whatever their causes, these incidents highlight the urgent need to strengthen the protection of UN peacekeepers in increasingly dangerous conflict situations.”The government urged the United Nations Security Council to investigate the incident and “immediately convene a meeting of UNIFIL contributors to review and take measures to enhance the protection of UNIFIL personnel.”Friday’s incident comes days after an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed in a bombing in southern Lebanon on March 29. Israel and Hezbollah have been at war in the region since Lebanon became embroiled in the Middle East war.An unnamed UN security source told AFP on Tuesday that Israeli tank fire caused the attack.A day later, an explosion occurred at a UNIFIL logistics convoy also in southern Lebanon, killing two more Indonesian peacekeepers. The bodies of the three men arrived in Jakarta on Saturday.
“Not deployed for war”
The soldier’s coffin, draped in the Indonesian flag, was carried in the lobby of the international airport by uniformed comrades in a ceremony attended by President Prabowo Subianto.The men’s families wept in front of the coffins, each with a gold-framed photo of the dead soldier on the front.Prabowo paid tribute to each portrait and held the hands of grieving relatives, some of whom cried inconsolably.Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, 33, the father of one of the two soldiers killed, said this week he was shocked that peacekeepers were killed in the clashes.“We are really sad and sorry because this is a United Nations force, a peacekeeping force, not deployed for war,” Iskandarudin, 60, told reporters at his home in West Java province.The military has pledged to provide financial support to the families of the victims.Armed Forces Commander Gen. Agus Subianto ordered Indonesian peacekeepers in Lebanon to enter bunkers and not move outside after a recent attack wounded three other soldiers.The Indonesian National Armed Forces said it will deploy more than 750 personnel to Lebanon next month as part of UNIFIL’s peacekeeping force rotation plan.
