2nd French peacekeeper dies after Hezbollah-linked attack in Lebanon
A second French peacekeeper has died after an attack in southern Lebanon by Hezbollah, according to President Emmanuel Macron.
The attack happened on Saturday near the village of Ghanduriyah in southern Lebanon, where a UNIFIL patrol was clearing explosive ordnance along a road to reconnect isolated U.N. positions, according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission. The patrol came under small-arms fire from what UNIFIL described as non-state actors.
Macron said the dead peacekeeper was Corporal Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Cynotechnical Infantry Regiment based in Suippes. He had been seriously wounded in the ambush, was repatriated from Lebanon on Tuesday and died Wednesday morning from his injuries.
His death comes a day before France is due to pay tribute to Warrant Officer Florian Montorio, the first French peacekeeper killed in the same attack.
French and U.N. officials initially said three other peacekeepers were injured in the ambush, two of them seriously. Girardin was one of the two who had been critically wounded and later died in France.
“The Nation… salutes with emotion the memory of Corporal Anicet Girardin and his sacrifice,” Macron said in a statement. “It also extends its most sincere thoughts and deepest compassion to his family, his loved ones, as well as to the families of the other wounded.”
UNIFIL has opened an investigation into the shooting and called on the Lebanese government to quickly identify and hold those responsible accountable.
The mission said deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
