Irish troops set for Lebanon duty

A further 200 Irish troops are set to leave for peacekeeping duties in Lebanon.

The Defence Forces will send the rest of the 104th Battalion tomorrow, departing at 2.30am from Dublin airport.

The deployment is the second of two troop movements that will see 440 members of the battalion assigned with the Unifil (United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon) mission. On June 23rd, 200 soldiers were deployed to Lebanon, and an advance specialist party has been there since the end of May.

The role of Irish forces in the Unifil mission will involve monitoring the cessation of fighting, helping the Lebanese armed forces and ensuring humanitarian access to civilians.

The Irish area of operations is some 140sq km in size, extending from Tibnin in southern Lebanon to the “blue line” along the border with Israel. Irish forces will be based at a large camp in the village of Tibnin and two smaller posts along the blue line with Israel.

It is Irish troops' first major mission since the Defence Forces’ withdrawal from Chad just over one year ago.

The current strength of the Unifil force is 12,000 personnel drawn from 31 contributing nations. The mission is governed by UN Resolution 1701 under Chapter Six of the UN Charter.

Irish officers first deployed to Lebanon as observers in 1958, while the first Irish battalion sent to Lebanon left in 1978. A total of 47 Irish troops have died in Lebanon since 1978.

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