UN peacekeepers in S Lebanon take precautionary measures against threats
The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have taken precautionary measures after receiving threats against the UN peacekeepers, Al-Mustaqbal daily reported Thursday.
Extraordinary security measures have been carried out in southern Lebanon after a bomb was discovered in southern Wastani area on Dec. 7, according to the report.
Lebanese security sources were quoted as saying that UNIFIL has warned its patrols against passing near the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helwe when crossing the costal highway from Siden to Beirut.
The Lebanese army has also deployed more troops and carried out foot patrols along the two sides of the coastal road, said the report.
UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon have been targeted with road bombs in the past year and have received threats from extremist Islamists.
The forces was deployed after the 2006 war between the Israel and Lebanon”s militant Hezbollah group, which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, many of them civilians.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday visited the headquarters of the UNIFIL in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura, saying the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in the volatile border between Lebanon and Israel helped enhancing security in the region.