Lebanon UN reports blasts at HQ for second day running

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon reported new blasts at its headquarters yesterday that injured two Sri Lankan members of the force a day after the same base came under Israeli tank fire.

- Julian Borger

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said the explosions hit the base in Naqoura near an observation tower but did not specify the source of the attack. It said in a statement that one of the wounded peacekeepers had been taken to hospital in the southern coastal town of Tyre, while the second was treated at the Naqoura base.

Unifil also said an Israeli military bulldozer had destroyed part of the concrete perimeter of one of its observation positions on the Israeli-Lebanese border as tanks moved alongside, and that it had sent a reaction force to reinforce the position.

The shelling of UN positions has come as the conflict, which began just over a year ago in Gaza, continues to spread unabated. Overnight Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut killed 22 people when they hit a densely populated residential neighbourhood of apartment blocks and small shops in the heart of the Lebanese capital.