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A blast at a weapons depot near the Israeli border on Saturday killed six Lebanese soldiers, according to the country’s army.
A military source, speaking anonymously, stated that the soldiers were dismantling munitions from a Hezbollah facility when the explosion occurred in Wadi Zibqin.
The incident comes just days after the Lebanese government, facing heavy pressure from the U.S., agreed to a plan to disarm Hezbollah and tasked the army with completing the process by the end of the year. Both Hezbollah and its backer, Iran, have said they will ignore the government’s decision.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam paid tribute to the soldiers, calling them protectors of the nation’s “unity.”
The commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Diodato Abagnara, also noted that the soldiers were “simply doing their job to restore stability.”
The UN had recently reported that UNIFIL troops had discovered an extensive network of fortified tunnels in the same area.
Despite a truce that ended last year’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, tensions in the region remain high. Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, vowing to persist until the militant group is disarmed.
The Lebanese health ministry confirmed that one person was killed in a separate Israeli strike on a vehicle on Saturday.
