Israeli raids have intensified in recent weeks on Haret Saida. (Representational image)
SIDON: Three people were killed and soldiers and UN peacekeepers were injured in an Israeli attack on a vehicle near a checkpoint in the southern city of Sidon on Thursday, the Lebanese army said.
“The Israeli enemy targeted a car as it passed the Awali checkpoint,” the army said, which is the main northern gateway to Sidon.
Except for a few limited attacks, the Sunni Muslim-majority city of Sidon has remained relatively unscathed from deadly airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon in Israel’s war against the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
The army said the attack killed three people, all of them passengers in the targeted vehicle.
Three Lebanese soldiers manning the checkpoint were also injured, as were members of the Malaysian UNIFIL contingent, according to the army.
UNIFIL peacekeepers said a “convoy carrying newly-arrived peacekeepers was passing through Sidon when the drone attack occurred nearby.”
“Five peacekeepers were slightly injured and were treated on the spot by the Lebanese Red Cross. They will remain at their posts,” it said, urging the warring sides to “refrain from actions that endanger peacekeepers or civilians.”
UNIFIL has thousands of peacekeepers
Lebanon’s official national news agency said a UNIFIL vehicle was in the “same lane” when the attack occurred, causing “minor injuries” to the UN peacekeepers.
An AFP correspondent in the area saw the charred, mangled remains of the targeted vehicle, which was just metres from the army post.
The reporter saw UNIFIL peacekeepers gathered on the pavement near the post, some of them bloodied and wounded after the raid, while paramedics treated their injuries.
The UNIFIL convoy included several buses, the reporter said.
Israeli raids have intensified in recent weeks on Haret Saida, a densely populated Sidon suburb with a significant population of Shi’ite Muslims.
Israel has also increasingly carried out targeted attacks on vehicles. A woman was killed on Thursday in an Israeli attack targeting a car on a major road linking the capital Beirut to the Bekaa Valley and Syria, a security source told AFP.
Lebanon’s National News Agency earlier reported that “an enemy drone targeted a car in Araya,” adding that the attack had blocked the route to vehicular traffic.
The highway links Beirut to the Syrian capital Damascus through Lebanon’s mountains.
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