MINES GRAFT

Soldiers heading to Lebanon in early May pick up skills on pre-deployment exercises

- BY MICHAEL O'TOOLE, Crime and Defence Editor In the GLEN OF IMAAL Pics by MICK O'NEILL

SOLDIERS on patrol in a €1 million Mowag armoured car drove over an IED in the Glen of Imaal and the injured occupants were rescued and evacuated by their colleagues.

That was the scenario played out yesterday by Irish troops on a pre-deployment exercise before heading to Lebanon in early May.

One of the areas the soldiers were practising is how to deal with unexploded bombs and other ordnance from the conflict in the area.

In a scenario witnessed by this newspaper, colleagues had to rescue the injured soldiers, give them first aid - and then evacuate the personnel.