By Naim Berjawi and Rania Abu Shamala
BEIRUT/ISTANBUL (AA) - One Lebanese soldier was killed and three others were injured in an explosion while conducting an engineering survey in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon on Monday.
In an official statement, the Lebanese army said that “a suspicious object exploded while a specialized army unit (unnamed) was conducting an engineering survey at a site in the Wadi Aaziyyeh area of Tyre.”
The explosion resulted in “the martyrdom of one member of the unit and moderate injuries to three others,” the statement added.
In a separate statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed deep sorrow over the incident, saying: “The army once again pays with the blood of its members the price of extending state authority over the south and ensuring stability there through the implementation of UN Resolution 1701.”
Resolution 1701, passed in 2006, calls for a complete halt to hostilities between the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel and the establishment of a weapons-free zone between the Blue Line, a de facto border, and the Litani River in southern Lebanon, with exceptions for the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL).
A fragile ceasefire had been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict last September.
Lebanese authorities reported nearly 1,400 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including at least 120 fatalities and more than 366 injuries.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after it refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.