No Malbatt personnel injured in south Lebanon explosions, says Khaled

The defence minister says his ministry and the joint forces headquarters are monitoring the situation.

Defence minister Khaled Nordin said additional security measures have been taken, including scheduled patrols and tightened communications between units. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Defence minister Khaled Nordin said today that no personnel of the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) 850-13 team in south Lebanon was injured in the recent explosions near the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters there.

He said his ministry and the joint forces headquarters were continuing to monitor the situation, especially around the Malbatt team’s area of duty.

“The safety of our personnel remains our priority. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (Unifil) headquarters in Naqoura is also monitoring the situation and has ordered all peacekeeping teams to stay alert.

“Additional security measures have been taken, including scheduled patrols and tightened communications between units,” he said in a statement today.

Khaled previously said that Malbatt 850-13 was ordered to retreat after their control post was damaged in an Israeli air strike on March 13.

He said the Israel Defence Forces struck an area 100m to 200m from the Malbatt peacekeeping team’s control post at about 2.35am Lebanon time, in an attack believed to be targeted at a bridge over the Litani River.

He said none of the personnel were harmed and their weapons and equipment were also not damaged by the Israeli strike. - FMT