WORLD NEWS | Lebanese army court indicts 5 Irish peacekeepers allegedly linked to Hezbollah

BEIRUT, June 1 (AP) — A Lebanese military court charged five men Thursday with the killing of an Irish United Nations peacekeeper in December, a senior judicial official said.

All five are linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under rules.

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The prosecution came after a six-month investigation into the attack on a UN peacekeeping convoy near the town of Eqbiah, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon. The shooting resulted in the death of Pvt. Sean Rooney, 24, of Newtown Cunningham, Ireland, was seriously injured. Shane Kearney, 22. The injured peacekeeper was medically flown to Ireland. Two other Irish soldiers were slightly wounded.

Lebanese officials said the indictment included evidence from bystander testimony, as well as audio and video recordings from surveillance cameras. In some recordings of the standoff, the gunmen can reportedly be heard telling the peacekeepers that they are from Hezbollah.

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Hezbollah has denied any role in the killing, and a spokesman for the group declined to comment on the indictment on Thursday.

Mohamad Ayyad, one of the five indicted, is currently in the custody of Lebanese authorities. Four others facing charges – Ali Khalifih, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman and Mustafa Salman – are at large.

On that fateful night, Rooney and several other Irish peacekeepers were en route from their southern base to Beirut airport. Two UN vehicles apparently took a detour through Egbia, which is not part of the peacekeepers’ mission area.

Initial reports said angry residents confronted peacekeepers, but the indictment concluded the shooting was a targeted attack. The UN peacekeeper vehicle reportedly took a wrong turn and was surrounded by vehicles and armed men as it tried to return to the main road.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, also known as UNIFIL, did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on the indictment.

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon following the 1978 Israeli invasion. After the 2006 war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, the United Nations expanded its mission to allow peacekeepers to be deployed along Israel’s border to help the Lebanese army extend its power to the south of the country for the first time in decades.

Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon often accuse the UN mission of colluding with Israel, while Israel accuses peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s military activities in southern Lebanon. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)