Army Commander pays tribute to UNIFIL Irish-Polish battalion

The Lebanese Armed Forces Commander, General Joseph Aoun, visited on Tuesday Camp Shamrock in the Bint Jbeil district, where he honored Private Sean Rooney, who lost his life in a security incident on December 14, and his three colleagues who were injured, as their vehicle was shot in the town of Al-Aqbieh. 

The ceremony took place in the presence of the Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon - UNIFIL Major General Aroldo Lázaro, the Commander of UNIFIL Sector West Brigadier General Giuseppe Bertoncello, the Irish-Polish Battalion Commander, its officers and soldiers, and the commanders of army units deployed in the south. 

After a group of battalion members performed the ceremony, the army commander laid a wreath at the monument to the martyrs of the battalion and stood with the audience for a minute of silence, then wrote a word of condolence. 

"The Irish-Polish contingent has a long history of service within UNIFIL since 1978, during which time it has provided 48 martyrs. I salute the members of the battalion, heroic peacekeepers, who are far from their homelands and their families to maintain peace in Lebanon and support the people of the south." 

General Aoun reaffirmed UNIFIL's sacrifices, adding that the peacekeepers have worked closely with the Lebanese army to maintain security and stability in the south. On the other hand, Major General Lázaro thanked the military for its solidarity with UNIFIL, stressing that it will continue to perform its mission professionally within the framework of resolution 1701 in coordination with the Lebanese army. 

In the end, General Aoun handed the Commander of the Irish-Polish Battalion the Order of the Wounded to each of the three wounded soldiers as a token of loyalty and appreciation for their service and sacrifices within the framework of their peacekeeping mission carried out in southern Lebanon.