BEIRUT: At least 25 people have been arrested in connection with an attack on a UN peacekeeping convoy heading to Beirut airport, Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said on Saturday.
Violent protests reached a peak late on Friday when masked men carrying Hezbollah banners and Iranian flags blocked the airport road and attacked the UNIFIL convoy, setting one of the three vehicles on fire.
Protesters then chased and assaulted two peacekeepers, including UNIFIL’s deputy force commander in the south, Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal.
Speaking after an emergency meeting on Saturday, Hajjar said more than 25 people had been detained by Lebanese Army Intelligence, while another is being questioned by the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces.
He said that the setting up of roadblocks, attacks on public and private property, and the targeting of the UNIFIL convoy over the past two days are “crimes punishable by law.”
Lebanese troops have stepped up patrols in Beirut’s southern suburbs following protests and escalating violence on the airport road.
The protests were triggered by the refusal of airport authorities to grant landing permission to an Iranian passenger aircraft on Thursday, as well as the suspension of permits for any Iranian flights until Feb. 18.
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement distanced themselves from the attack, describing the perpetrators as “infiltrators.”
The storming of the UN convoy drew widespread condemnation at both national and international levels.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said: “What happened last night on Beirut’s airport road and in many areas in the capital is rejected, condemned, and should not be repeated.”
He added that “the security forces will not be lenient with any party that tries to upset stability and civil peace.”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also ordered a security crackdown, and demanded that those responsible for the violence be arrested and referred to the judicial authorities.
Acting army chief Maj. Gen. Hassan Ouda condemned the attack and warned that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Authorities are trying to repatriate Lebanese passengers stranded in Tehran following the temporary suspension of flights from the Iranian capital to Beirut.
Iran refused to grant permission for any Lebanese Middle East Airlines aircraft to land in Tehran.
Israel has accused Iran of using civilian aircraft to transport funds to Hezbollah to help “restore its military capabilities.”
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji talked to both the head of the UNIFIL mission, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, and Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon.
He emphasized Lebanon’s commitment to the role of UNIFIL and its support for the mission’s operations.
The US State Department swiftly condemned the “violent attack on the UNIFIL convoy, which was reportedly carried out by a group of Hezbollah supporters.”
It commended the Lebanese government’s commitment to hold accountable those responsible for the attack, and praised the swift response of the Lebanese army in preventing further violence.
The French Foreign Ministry said the attack could constitute a “war crime.”
Lebanon’s former Premier Fouad Siniora described it as “a blatant crime against civil peace and Lebanon’s international reputation and credibility.”
Siniora said the violence “might be seen as a free gift to the Israeli enemy, which is still lurking around Lebanon, and will exploit this attack to highlight that the Lebanese state remains incapable of controlling the security situation in the country.”
The Progressive Socialist Party described the events as “unacceptable and unjustifiable actions, regardless of the pretexts.”
It called on “all political forces to ensure internal stability and give the country the necessary time for recovery and reconstruction.”
Ashraf Rifi, the former justice minister, said the attacks on UNIFIL “are a deep expression of the crisis within Hezbollah’s base with its leadership, the crisis of the illusions sown by the Iranian project in this environment.”
