Kapuspen Concerning Incidents At The United Nations Peacekeeping Headquarters In Lebanon: Flare Rockets Are Not Mortars

Head of the TNI Information Center Rear Admiral TNI Julius Widjojono/ANTARA/Genta Tenri Mawangi.

JAKARTA - Head of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Information Center (Kapuspen) Rear Admiral TNI Julius Widjojono straightened out information circulating on social media regarding mortar fire at the United Nations Peace Forces Headquarters in Lebanon (UNIFIL) located not far from the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Julius straightened the broadcast narrated on social media as an Israeli mortar attack was a flare shot from the warring party.

"What has been on social media, which has been circulating for several days, especially last night was just a flare rocket. The flare rocket is to provide lighting at night," said Kapuspen TNI as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, October 26.

However, he said,flare shots were also often used to measure distance and activity in areas that were targeted by shootings.

'Roketflare to illuminate the darkness of the night, the duration is about 40 seconds to be clear. The enemy or the party throwing the rocket will see the activity, the position of the area, and this has been anticipated," said Julius.

The rest of theflare can indeed damage, for example if it falls on the roof of the building, however, it does not cause any casualties or fatal damage.

In Lebanon, there are 1,229 TNI soldiers who are members of the UN peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) and guard in the southern region and along the Israel-Lebanon land and sea border.

Tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border have risen in recent weeks, especially after the war between Hamas and the Israeli military broke out on October 7, 2023.

UNIFIL on October 15, 2023 confirmed the rocket attack on their headquarters in Naqura. Soedirman Camp Headquarters, which is part of the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqura, is one of several locations guarding TNI soldiers in Lebanon.

Generally, the Soedirman Camp Headquarters in Naqura is the working area of TNI soldiers who are members of the Headquarters/Force Headquarters Support Unit (FHQSU) Support Task Force, Indo Force Protection Company (FPC) Task Force, Civil-Military Coordination Task Force / Civil Military Coordination (CIMIC) TNI, Military Community Outreach Unit (MCOU), and Task Force Level 2 Hospital.

Head of Information for Puspen TNI Colonel Arm Suhendro Oktosatrio said that as of today (26/10) out of 1,229 TNI soldiers in Lebanon (TNI Task Force for Garuda UNIFIL 2023 Contingent), of which 850 personnel are members of the TNI Mechanical Battalion Task Force (INDOBATT), 155 FHQSU XXVI-01 soldiers, 39 soldiers at the XXV-O East Military Police Sector (SEMPU), nine Hospital Task Force (RS) soldiers Level 2, 18 soldiers at MCOU XXX-M, seven CIMIC XXXI-M soldiers, 11 soldiers as military staff (MILSTAFF), and 21 soldiers asstaff officer(SO).

UNIFIL in its official broadcast on October 15, 2023, stated that the UN Peace Force was still looking for the origin of the rocket and there were no casualties or injuries as a result of the attack. UNIFIL is still observing the escalation of tensions and shootouts along the Blue Line, the border between Lebanon and Israel, and is calling on two sides to the ceasefire.

Kapuspen TNI said the distance from the UNIFIL Headquarters to the hot spot was about one kilometer.

"The closest one, last night was one kilometer of explosion," said Kapuspen TNI Julius Widjojono

He said that so far TNI soldiers in Lebanon are safe. "Until today they are still in a safe condition," said Julius.