Blast targets French contingent in Tyre, Paris does not see link with Syria

A blast hit a vehicle carrying French members of the UNIFIL peacekeeping contingent on Friday morning, eastern Tyre. Exclusive sources told LBCI that five French peacekeepers and two civilians were wounded when an explosion struck their patrol in southern Lebanon.          

A source near the blast told AFP that an explosive device detonated when a military Jeep owned by the UNIFIL French contingent passed through a bystreet at a roundabout leading to Borj Ech Chamali, Hawch and Tyre.           

The blast created a one meter deep and two meters wide pit and the targeted vehicle was severely damaged. The Lebanese Army cordoned off the area after residents rushed to the explosion site.         

The weight of the explosive device was estimated at 5 to 7 Kg of TNT that is expected to have been detonated wirelessly.          

In a statement, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that UNIFIL investigation committee rushed to the site and is working side by side with the LAF to reveal the ins and outs of the incident.              

The military public prosecution, headed by the government’s commissioner to the military court judge Saqr Saqr, placed the explosion under its jurisdiction and entrusted the security apparatuses with the task of conducting preliminary investigations. The military prosecution sent the Assistant Commissioner for the government to the military court Dany Zaani to follow up on the investigations.          

During a gathering at the Grand Serail chaired by the Premier, PM Najib Mikati voiced stern disapproval of the explosion targeting the UNIFIL French contingent in Tyre. "This attack does not solely target UNIFIL but it tampers with the Lebanese people's security," Mikati said and stressed the Lebanese people and government's solidarity with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.          

Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, assigned by President Michel Sleiman, visited the wounded peacekeepers at Hammoud hospital in Sidon, slamming the attack that he considered “an attack against Lebanon, its stability and security”.       

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said that the blast which targeted the UNIFIL French patrol in Tyre south Lebanon will not terrorize France. "France is determined to carry out its commitment within (UNIFIL) and will not let itself be intimidated by these despicable acts," Juppe said in a statement.               

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson, Bernard Valero, said that Paris does not have any data yet showing a link between the blast that targeted French peacekeepers and the effective role that France is playing in the Syrian crisis.