UNIFIL affair: The Lebanese military tribunal has officially charged 5 members of Hezbollah and the Shiite Amal movement with involvement in the killing of UNIFIL Irish soldiers in December 2022. A Lebanese legal source told Reuters on Thursday.
Private Sean Rooney was killed in the first shooting against the United Nations in the country since 2015. He and his friends were on their way to Beirut airport for exchanges, but one turn from the main road sealed his fate. Their car ran into the village of al-'Aqbiyah. There, an angry mob blocked their way. When the vehicle tried to deploy, suspects opened fire on them, killing Ronnie.
Hezbollah training in southern Lebanon, photo: AP
These are five defendants out of seven who were already indicted in January. But a new legal document released yesterday identifies these five Lebanese as Hezbollah operatives. As expected, the terrorist organization did not respond to the report, and Amal refused to comment.
The legal source said that the military court charged those involved in the operation that led to the killing of the soldier and the attempted murder of three other soldiers. The source added that the punishment for this is death, and that the document is based on evidence from a camera in which they admit their membership in Hezbollah. Another legal source confirmed this.
In fact, one of them was extradited by Hezbollah to detention and has been charged with murder since December. But the others involved, charged with attempted murder and damaging a vehicle, are still roaming free. Initially, Hezbollah denied any connection to the incident, describing it as an "unplanned incident." The remaining defendants in the case are now awaiting arrest and a verdict.
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