Protesters set the vehicle ablaze after assaulting the three Nepalese personnel and wounding the deputy commander [Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty]
Lebanon’s military court has reportedly charged 20 men with attacking members of the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) earlier this month during a protest south of Beirut.
Judge Fadi Akiki, the government’s commissioner to the military court, which oversees cases related terror and espionage, charged 20 young men for forming a criminal gang, attacking vehicles belonging to the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), attempted murder, terrorism and stealing money, according to local media.
Only seven of the suspects are currently detained while 13 others are still being pursued.
On the night of 14 February, Hezbollah supporters blocked a road leading to Beirut Airport, protesting against the Lebanese government’s decision to ban flights from Iran, after Israel claimed Tehran was smuggling cash for Hezbollah on commercial flights.
During the protest, which saw the road filled with burning tires and trash, a group of young rioters stopped and attacked a passing UNIFIL vehicle from the Nepalese contingent.
Outgoing deputy commander Major General Chok Bahadur Dhakal, who was heading home after completing his work with UNIFIL, was injured in the attack, while two other Nepalese personnel were also assaulted and managed to escape the attackers. Their vehicle was then set ablaze.
The “criminal attack” was slammed by UNIFIL and the Lebanese government, which vowed to punish the perpetrators.
At least 30 suspects were arrested hours after the attack during raids carried out by the Lebanese security forces in the southern suburbs of Beirut, but some were released after being found to have no connection.
The 20 individuals have been charged over acts of terror, crimes against the state and attempted murder for attacking members of the international forces and hurling stones at Lebanese soldiers. One individual is said to have thrown a petrol bomb at the UN vehicle, setting it ablaze.
The rioters were also charged with stealing around $30,000 that had been in Dhakal’s possession.
The individuals face life sentences with hard labour.
UNIFIL peacekeepers have served in the country’s south since 1978, ever since Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon. They are currently supporting Lebanese army operations and monitoring Israeli withdrawal from the area.
UNIFIL was attacked several times by Israeli forces during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year, after the Israeli military demanded the UN mission pull out of its positions in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL refused to do so.
Since a November ceasefire deal, Lebanon has introduced tighter security measures on all its border crossings, especially at its only civilian airport in Beirut, foiling attempts to smuggle weapons and financial aid for Hezbollah which has come out of the war significantly weakened.
The indefinite ban on flights from Iran has angered Hezbollah supporters, especially after a group of Lebanese Shia pilgrims were stranded in Tehran for days after an Iranian Mahan Air flight was banned from travelling to Beirut.
The Lebanese government is concerned that Israel could strike Beirut airport under the pretext that Iran was smuggling money to Hezbollah – something both the group and Tehran have denied.
An individual was arrested at the Beirut airport on Friday after authorities found with him $2.5 million in cash, which media reports said could have been destined for Hezbollah.
Identified only by his initials as M.H., the man had arrived from Turkey via a Pegasus flight. He was taken in for interrogation after authorities found in his bags the large sum of cash, which has been confiscated.
The finance ministry later confirmed that the airport’s Customs Directorate had discovered the money, adding that the individual would be transferred to General Security for investigation.
Earlier in February, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Turkey of assisting Iran in smuggling funds to Hezbollah.
