Heavy shelling near Irish base in Lebanon

Shelling near Irish troop positions in South Lebanon yesterday forced all non-essential Irish personnel underground. Elements of the Lebanese resistance attacked Israeli-backed compounds close to the Irish headquarters in Tibnin.

The compounds first came under fire at 6 a.m. local time yesterday. A more intense attack began six hours later when five of the six compounds overlooking the Irish area of responsibility were attacked with mortars, rockets and heavy machine-guns.

A spokesman for the Defence Forces said there were four occasions when ordnance landed "very, very close" to Irish positions, "near enough to cause damage".

There were no Irish casualties in the attack, which lasted two hours. All Irish platoons in forward positions were forced to take evasive action and nonessential personnel were forced to take shelter underground.

A 155 mm shell landed near Irish positions on Christmas Day but did not cause any damage.

The Defence Forces have a 540-strong infantry battalion in Tibnin which forms part of a UNIFIL force of 4,500 soldiers. The Irish UNIFIL troops operate patrols, checkpoints and observation posts in the area, as well as providing humanitarian assistance to the local population.

UNIFIL has lost two soldiers this year, one of whom was Irishman Pte Billy Kedian (21). More than 30 Irish soldiers have died in service in Lebanon, more than half of them from hostile fire.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, declared earlier this year that he intended pulling Israeli troops out of the strip of land just inside the Lebanese border which the Israeli defence forces seized 21 years ago.

However, tensions between the Israelis and the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia have intensified since then and Irish UN posts have been caught in cross fire between opposing forces several times this year.