The previous report said Five Spanish United Nations soldiers were killed and six were injured Sunday when 2 Spanish vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon were rocked by recently planted and remotely controlled Bomb blast in the Marjeyoun-Khiyam area in southern Lebanon. The reports issued immediately after the incident, said the blast was cause by a landmine but could not determine how recently it was planted . The whole border region is thick with mines, cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance left over from last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas, and previous conflicts. Israel has refused to give the UN the maps that show the location of the mines, despite repeated requests. Early reports also said 4 were killed and 3 were injuredUNIFIL said the two U.N. vehicles were badly damaged in the explosion. Residents said ammunition in one U.N. troop carrier exploded after the blast, because it was transporting fuel and ammunition.
Hezbollah has condemned the incident which it described as being "suspicious". No organization claimed responsibility but forces affiliated with al-Qaeda, like Fatah al-Islam, who have been battling the Lebanese army since May 20 in northern Lebanon have threatened to hit UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon. "During questioning, some members of Fatah al-Islam confessed that one of the main aims of their group was to carry out attacks on UNIFIL in southern Lebanon," one Lebanese security source said.
Fatah al-Islam spokesman Abu Selim had threatened to hit the UNIFIL force after accusing them of helping the Lebanese army shelling their bases in Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.
The Lebanese parliament majority claims that Fatah al-Islam is a Syrian sponsored group of militants and say it is an offshoot of Fatah al-Intifadah , an operation of the Syrian Intelligence , created to destabilize the Palestinian refugee camps and undermine Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Syria denied any connections with the militant group, but refused to hand over its leader Shaker el Absi to the Jordanians when they asked for his extradition. Absi, the Fatah al Islam leader was sentenced to death by Jordan for the murder of a US diplomat .
Lebanese politicians flocked to condemn the bombing, which Saad al-Hariri, Sunni leader of the ruling Western-backed coalition, described as "a grave terrorist attack". Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called his Spanish counterpart to decry the bombing, which he said would "only increase the Lebanese government's determination to implement (U.N. Security Council) resolution 1701 literally and step up cooperation between the Lebanese army and UNIFIL".
In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in denouncing the attack on the Spanish U.N. soldiers. "I join you in absolutely condemning any attack that was launched against them," she said.
Spain has 1,100 troops serving in the UNIFIL force which patrols the south and Lebanese coastal waters. UNIFIL has suffered 260 fatalities since it was set up after an Israeli invasion in 1978. The dead include 250 troops, two military observers, four international and four local staff.