UN Investigation Finds TNI Soldier Killed in Lebanon Due to Israeli Fire and Hezbollah Improvised Explosives

JAKARTA - Three UN peacekeepers who were killed in two separate incidents in Lebanon in March were most likely killed by Israeli tank fire and Hezbollah improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in other cases, according to a UN investigation.

Three TNI soldiers who were part of the Yonmek TNI Konga XXIII-S/UNIFIL Task Force Major Inf (Anm) Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, Serka (Anm) Muhammad Nur and Kopda (Anm) Farizal Rhomadhon were killed while carrying out peacekeeping duties in Lebanon in two separate incidents on March 29 and 30.

"We have asked the parties concerned to investigate the cases and prosecute them by the national authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure criminal accountability for crimes against peacekeepers," said UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric's spokesman, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (8/4).

Earlier, UNIFIL on Tuesday announced a projectile that killed a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon last month was fired by an Israeli military tank.

Based on the analysis of the location of the impact and the fragments found at the position, UNIFIL said the bullet was a 120mm tank main armament projectile fired by an Israeli Merkava tank from the east, towards Ett Taibe, quoted from Anadolu.

UNIFIL noted that it had provided the coordinates of all its positions and facilities to the Israeli military on March 6 and again on March 22, weeks before the incident, in an effort to reduce the risk to its personnel.

Regarding the explosion on March 30, Dujarric as quoted from a statement shared by the UN Information Center in Indonesia said based on evidence, analysis of the location of the explosion, and the second IED found near the scene of the crime on the same day, the explosion was caused by an IED activated by the victim (tripwire). The IED was most likely installed by Hezbollah.

It is known that Kopda (Anm) Farizal was killed by a projectile explosion near the UNIFIL facility in Adchit Al Qusayr on Sunday, March 29. The incident also caused Praka Rico Pramudia, Praka Bayu Prakoso and Praka Arif Kurniawan to be injured.

In the next 24 hours, two TNI soldiers on behalf of Major Inf. (Anm) Zulmi and Serka (Anm) Nur Ichwan were killed by an explosion that hit a UN convoy near Bani Hayyan in the Monday attack. Meanwhile, two others, Lettu Inf Sulthan Wirdean Maulana and Praka Deni Rianto were injured.