Four Ghanaian soldiers injured in rocket attack in Lebanon

Four Ghanaian soldiers on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon sustained injuries as a rocket, "fired most likely by non-State actors within Lebanon" – hit their base “UNP 5-42” in the east of the village of Ramyah in Lebanon on Tuesday.

The UN peacekeeping agency in southern Lebanon said the four peacekeepers were injured when the rocket hit their base, one of three separate incidents in which its troops and bases came under fire on Tuesday [Nov 19].

The four Ghanaian soldiers were injured, with three requiring hospital treatment, after the rocket struck the base near the border with Israel, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said. The severity of their injuries is unknown.

It was part of three separate incidents in south Lebanon on Tuesday, that targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers and facilities.

It was one of the incident that resulted in the injuries to the four peacekeepers who are all from Ghana.

Information gathered from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the Middle East indicates that the Ghanaian soldiers, currently in Lebanon and engaged in a UN peacekeeping mission are responding to treatment.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which is staging a ground invasion of southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, blamed the Lebanese armed group for both incidences of rocket fire. Hezbollah has not commented.

The report indicates that an Artillery Rocket, which was fired from an unknown location towards an Israeli Defence Force position at the W413 position, dropped shot and fell inside a Ghanbatt position, that is the Ghana Battalion position, at the UNP 5-42. 

The Artillery Rocket caused damages to some parts of the washroom and troops accommodation and injured the soldiers.

This is from a situational report seen by Graphic Online. 

However, in a statement shared by UNIFIL on X, it was explained that the peacekeepers sustained injuries and three of them have been transferred to a hospital in Tyre for treatment.

In another incident, UNIFIL Sector West Headquarters in Shama was also impacted by five rockets, which struck the maintenance workshop.

Although that one also caused heavy damage to the workshop, no peacekeeper was injured.

It said this was the second time that particular UNIFIL base was impacted by the ongoing clashes in the area in less than a week.

A 155mm live artillery shell hit the base on November 15, 2024

It added that when a UNIFIL patrol was passing through a road northeast of the village of Khirbat Silim, an armed person directly fired at the patrol.

No injury was reported among the peacekeepers in this incident.

UNIFIL has therefore launched investigations into each of the incidents, it added.

It said the "pattern of regular attacks – direct or indirect – against peacekeepers must end immediately."

"Any attack against the peacekeepers is a flagrant violation of international laws and resolution 1701, which forms the basis of UNIFIL’s current mandate."

It was explained that despite these and other challenges, peacekeepers remain in all positions and will continue to impartially monitor and report on violations of resolution 1701.