Stricken Irish peacekeeper vehicle had no back-up from Lebanese armed forces

A member of the Defence Forces looks at flowers and tribute messages left in honour of Private Seán Rooney outside Aiken Barracks, Dundalk. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

There is no requirement for Irish peacekeepers to be accompanied by Lebanese armed forces when outside their area of operation in Southern Lebanon in small convoys.

Therefore, the two white Unifil-marked armoured utility vehicles (AUVs) which got separated on their way back to Beirut had no such back-up when one was attacked late on Wednesday evening. 

Two of the soldiers in the convoy were being brought back to the Lebanese city to fly home to attend family engagements, one of which is understood to have been a funeral.

However, one of the vehicles got separated from the other and about 20 minutes later ended up being fired on in an attack that led to the death of Private Seán Rooney.

Communications with the attacked vehicle also appear to have failed around the time of the incident, in the coastal town of Aaqbiyeh.

Among questions that are expected to be asked by investigators are whether the presence of the Lebanese armed forces would have made any difference.

According to video taken moments before it was fired on, the Unifil AUV involved appears to have swerved around a crowd of people, and bumped into a parked car, dislodging a front bumper in the process. It has not been officially confirmed whether there was either anybody in the parked car or if there was, whether they were injured.

After the shots were fired into the Unifil vehicle, it then crashed and turned over onto its side. Videos show a stream of bullets being fired at the back of the vehicle from a distance as it tried to escape.

Pte Rooney was killed in the incident. The 24-year-old, from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, is understood to have suffered a bullet injury to his head and died immediately.

Injuries were also sustained by the three other Irish Defence Forces soldiers in the vehicle. One of them, Trooper Shane Kearney, 22, from Killeagh in East Cork, suffered serious head injuries in the attack.

It is not clear how he sustained them, but it could have happened when the heavily armoured vehicle he was in overturned after shots were fired.

A security source, who asked not to be named, told the Irish Examiner: “He was not shot. He appears to have suffered a head injury after coming into contact with a metal object. It could have happened during the actual crash."

Two other colleagues suffered minor injuries when the vehicle crashed and are expected to be released from hospital on Saturday.

Another video circulating of the incident shows a dazed Defence Forces soldier lying by the wreckage on his side on the ground, struggling to get up.

Other videos show scenes of chaos as dozens of people stand around the crashed vehicle shouting to each other in Arabic about how best to pull the survivors to safety.

The men were tended to by paramedics from the Risalah Scouts Ambulance service before they were rushed to nearby Raai Hospital.

Members of the Lebanese armed forces were very quickly on the scene and secured the crash site and the hospital. They immediately secured the soldiers’ weapons, ID cards and name badges, bags and other luggage, and even their watches. These were all handed over to the Irish Defence Forces shortly afterwards.

Soldiers were placed outside the entrances to the hospital to ensure the safety of the wounded soldiers inside. They also stood guard outside each of the rooms occupied by the wounded soldiers.

Two of the three who survived the attack are understood to have asked hospital staff to let them get back to their camp as soon as possible as they were worried about their safety.

Ali Saad, director of the Tibnine Orphanage, was one of the first people to attend the hospital and check on the men’s condition.

He has an association with the Defence Forces that dates back to when he was just 12 and soldiers helped to pay for his education and have since been involved with the orphanage he helped set up.

His wife Bassima Fawaz’s association goes back about 30 years and she works for the Defence Forces as an interpreter.

As a coordinator of the Lebanese Red Cross, Mr Saad was contacted by the Irish Defence Forces at around 12.45am Thursday morning and asked to help. He decided to go and meet the soldiers and check up on them himself and took his 24-year-old son Hassan, who is a Lebanese Red Cross volunteer paramedic.

The two men stayed with the soldiers for more than an hour and a half as they waited for a force of Unifil soldiers to arrive at the hospital.

During this time, Mr Saad was in regular contact with Defence Forces officers both in Ireland and in Lebanon.

'Chaotic'

“When I arrived at the hospital, it was chaotic,” he said. “There were LAF soldiers at the entrance and in the corridors. Two Irish soldiers were in beds in one room and they weren’t seriously injured. A third was in intensive care being operated on and he had serious head injuries.

“But sadly, there was another room where their colleague who had died was laid out.

“The two men I spoke to were very worried for their safety but were very happy when I told them who I was and reassured them that they were safe. I also handed them a phone and they were able to speak to their commander back at Camp Shamrock.” 

Asked why he thought this attack happened, he said: “Few people really know what happened but it would not have been an attack against the Irish. It would have been an attack against Unifil because there is a lack of trust in the organisation by some who are suspicious about how the organisation operates.

“The Irish are very well respected in Lebanon and there has been much work they have done over the years. People do not suspect the Irish in the same way that they may suspect other nations who serve with the UN. The outpouring of grief and sadness for what has happened is immense."