Lebanese Military Court Prosecutes Seven People Over Killing of Irish UN Troops

The departure of the bodies of UNIFIL troops from Ireland Sean Rooney. (Twitter/@UNIFIL_)

JAKARTA - A military court in Lebanon has indicted seven people over the attack that killed an Irish peacekeeper in southern Lebanon in December.

They face charges ranging from "murder and attempted murder to the destruction of a vehicle", Reuters reported on January 6.

Irish soldier Sean Rooney, 24, died while on the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, when his convoy was attacked in the southern village of Al Aqbiya, Lebanon on December 14.

His compatriot on the same mission suffered serious head injuries, while two other UNIFIL members were treated for minor injuries.

One of the suspects was already in custody after Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed militia with heavy influence in southern Lebanon, handed him over to Lebanese authorities a week ago, news agencies reported.

The man allegedly opened fire on the UNIFIL convoy as it was passing through southern Lebanon back to Beirut. Hezbollah has officially denied involvement in the attack.

Meanwhile, UNIFIL representatives told The National News they have not received any official information from the Lebanese authorities regarding the arrests.

Last month, Lebanese Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati was determined to reveal the incident in its entirety, during a visit to UNIFIL headquarters.

"Necessary investigations are ongoing to uncover the circumstances of the incident to avoid it from happening again in the future. Anyone found guilty will be punished", he stressed.

It is understood the incident was the subject of three separate investigations, by Unifil, the Irish Defense Forces, and Lebanese authorities led by a military prosecutor.

A week after the attack, Private Rooney's body was returned to Ireland, where he was buried with full military honors.

The body of the young man from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was returned to his family. Rooney's coffin was taken to Holy Family Church in Dundalk, for the funeral Mass which was attended by his family and members of the Irish Defense Forces. An Irish tricolor and a United Nations flag were draped over his coffin.