A Ghanaian soldier was reportedly injured in an airstrike carried out by the Israeli Air Force on southern Lebanon.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, August 18, when a jeep belonging to the Ghanaian battalion (Ghanabatt) of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was passing through a hot zone, according to sources.
Al Manar, a Lebanese media outlet, reported that the “airstrike targeted the area between Al-Dhahira and Tair Harfa, Southern Lebanon. A UNIFIL jeep from the Ghanaian contingent was passing by during the attack.”
Other peacekeeping forces in the area were also injured in the attack, according to reports. Ambulances and emergency workers were reportedly deployed to the scene to evacuate the injured UN forces for treatment.
“Ambulances rushed to the scene, and initial reports suggest injuries among the UNIFIL soldiers,” the report said.
Details of the injured Ghanaian soldier were not immediately available at the time of filing this report.
Ghana has been contributing troops to UNIFIL since the mission’s inception in 1978, making it one of the longest-serving contributors to the peacekeeping mission.
Ghanabatt’s primary responsibilities within UNIFIL include patrolling and monitoring the Blue Line, the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel. This duty exposes Ghanaian forces in the mission to potential attacks from either Lebanon or Israel.