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UN Begins Deploying Peacekeeping Forces in South Lebanon
UN peacekeeping forces has begun its deployment in south Lebanon's liberated zone since Friday morning, a UN spokesman revealed to reporters.
The operation was launched after a final inspection tour verified that Israel has corrected its last two remaining infringements on the withdrawal Blue Line Friday morning.
The spokesman said the first batch of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployed in the villages of Manara and Yaren is drawn from Ghanaian and Irish battalions.
He added that more batches of UNIFIL troops will be deployed in south on Friday afternoon.
Prime Minister Salim Hoss sent out orders to the Lebanese army to coordinate the final touches of the deployment plan with UNIFIL. A 1,000 strong Lebanese task force of 500 army troops and 500 internal security police was also ordered to standby for a simultaneous deployment in the south to fill the post-withdrawal security vacuum.
The UNIFIL will deploy in 17 locations that make up the entire zone Israel vacated on May 24, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.
Gen. Amin Hotait Thursday confirmed that Israel had corrected three encroachments of the four and Lebanon recoups more than dozen square kilometers of territory.
The deployment of UNIFIL is scheduled to commence on July 26. But Lebanon announced Israel's four new border encroachments at the night of May 25 and suspended the operation.
Lebanon has vowed that is will not give the United Nations the green light to deploy peacekeeping forces along the entire border with Israel before it terminated all encroachments on the Blue Line.
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