Rocket strikes Lebanon military camp where Maltese soldiers are stationed

A rocket has struck a military camp in southern Lebanon where Maltese peacekeeping soldiers are stationed.

On Wednesday, at around 4:10pm, misfire from north of the blue line led to an unexploded ordnance landing within the Irish compound where Maltese soldiers are based.

An Armed Forces of Malta spokesperson confirmed with this newspaper that the Maltese soldiers are safe and unharmed.

The spokesperson said the ordnance was promptly detonated, and another unexploded device found 20 meters outside the compound has also been safely neutralised. “The area is now secure.”

One officer and eight senior and junior non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces of Malta are currently embedded with the 124th Infantry Battalion in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployment in Lebanon, for a 6-month tour of peace keeping operations.

The role of these personnel remains fundamentally related to peace keeping operations, and never related to any sort of fights or participation in a battlefield.

No soldiers were injured, with the Irish Defence Forces (IDF) saying the make of the rocket was associated with Hezbollah.

An initial investigation by the IDF indicated the device was a Katyusha rocket, which is developed in Russia and commonly used by Hezbollah.

Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Seán Clancy said on Thursday morning the rocket appeared to have been launched from the north towards Israel, and an investigation is underway to determine whether the explosive was intercepted and brought down by the Israeli air defence system before landing in the camp.