Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group on Sunday (December 25th) handed over to authorities a man suspected of killing an Irish UNIFIL peacekeeper earlier this month, a security official told AFP on Sunday.
Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others were injured on December 14 when their United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle was attacked near the southern village of Al-Aqbiya. of Lebanon, an Iranian-backed Hezbollah stronghold. “The main shooter is in the hands of security forces after being handed over by Hezbollah a few hours agosaid the security official, who requested anonymity, not being authorized to speak to the media.
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Hezbollah is cooperating with the investigation by Lebanese military intelligence, the official said, adding that “preliminary investigations were almost complete“. UNIFIL, made up of some 10,000 peacekeepers, has been deployed since 1978 to act as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, which remain technically in a state of war.
A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that seven bullets, fired from automatic weapons, had pierced the vehicle, whose driver was killed by a bullet to the head. UNIFIL called on Beirut to quickly shed light on the attack and bring those responsible to justice. Incidents had pitted Hezbollah supporters against UNIFIL patrols in the past, but the powerful pro-Iranian formation stood out from the latest attack.