UN says "inspected" Lebanon blast site is within its jurisdiction

Oct 14, 2009, 10:22 GMT

Beirut - The United Nations Interim Force in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Wednesday the site of a blast that shook part of southern Lebanon late Monday was within UN jurisdiction.

'The site which we inspected on the night the explosion took place in Tayr Felsay is south of the Litani, and within the operations of our mission,' UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziyane told the German Press Agency dpa.

The blast rocked the village of village of Tayr Felsay, east of the southern port city of Tyre, wounding Abdel Nasser Issa, a Hezbollah member.

According to initial reports Monday night, Issa had apparently stored a rocket dating from the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict in the garage of his home in the village.

Other reports said the device exploded as Issa was trying to defuse it.

The Israeli army Tuesday showed a video in which what were said to be Lebanese militants are seen removing dozens of rockets out of the home after the blast. Army spokeswoman Avital Leibowitz said the video was shot by an unmanned drone.

He said the video showed militants removing the rockets in two trucks before allowing in UN investigators. Also removed was a particularly large piece of equipment that could be a large rocket or a type of launcher.

The 13,000-strong UNIFIL force is tasked with operating south of the Litani, to prevent Hezbollah or any armed militia from operating in a 20-kilometre 'buffer zone' that stretches to the Israeli border.

But UNIFIL has no mandate north of the river. And the Lebanese army has no clear orders to interfere with Hezbollah's armed operations outside the buffer zone.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said the area where the blast occurred was north of the Litani.

Israel launched a complaint Tuesday to the UN, saying such a move violates UN resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day conflict between Lebanon and Israel.