UN forces in Lebanon nearly sufficient: UNIFIL

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Sunday that the UN peacekeeping mission has now nearly reached the strength and earlier its commander considers sufficient, Lebanon's local Naharnet news website reported on Sunday.

A press release by UNIFIL said here that "Some 9,450 troops from 20 different countries have now been deployed."

UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini had said that he considered 10,000 UN soldiers might be sufficient, added the release.

The beefed-up UN peacekeeping force now has about 7,730 troops deployed on the ground between the Litani River and the UN-drawn Blue Line, with a 1,700-member Maritime Task Force patrolling the coastline to prevent alleged arms smuggling.

According to the UN-brokered Resolution 1701, 15,000 UNIFIL troops would be deployed in southern Lebanon to help the government army take control the area.

On July 12, Israel troops and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group began a 34-day long conflict after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid, and the conflict was ended on Aug. 14, after the UN Resolution 1701 was adopted.

During the conflict, nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed.

Source: Xinhua