Boys age 16 shot at Irish patrol

THE gang that shot up an Irish peacekeeping patrol in southern Lebanon included boys as young as 16, it has emerged.

- BY MICHAEL O'TOOLE

The Irish Daily Mirror has established that the soldiers involved in the incident in the Hezbollah hotbed of Bint Jbeil near the border with Israel on December 4 told their superiors the six-strong gang was made up of males aged between 16 and 20.

And we have also established the patrol - who were praised for their bravery by Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Rossa Mulcahy on a visit to Irish troops in the area at the weekend - came in contact with the attackers twice around the time of the incident.

We have learned that the patrol, in two armoured utility vehicles, or AUVs, had just started a routine patrol in the town of Bint Jbeil, 3.5km from the de facto frontier between Lebanon and Israel when the drama began.