The U.N. Security Council issued a statement Wednesday expressing regret at the death in Lebanon of Cpl. Michael McCarthy, an Irish soldier stationed as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force there.
McCarthy was killed Nov. 15 in a clash with the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army, when he and fellow soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were mistaken for infiltrators.
One SLA soldier was also killed in the episode, and a second UNIFIL soldier wounded.
Members of the Irish patrol later admitted that they were in the wrong place, having been ordered by a recently arrived commander to patrol a sector normally out of bounds to UNIFIL.
The Security Council statement, which offered “deep-felt sympathy and condolences to the Irish people and the bereaved family,” also expressed concern over increased tension in the region patrolled by the U.N. troops.
“It is unacceptable that the safety of members of a United Nations peacekeeping operation is endangered,” said the statement, which was issued by Security Council President Yuli Vorontsov of the Soviet Union.
The council statement, which unlike a resolution is non-binding, called for restraint from all parties concerned.
The Irish government has been critical of Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon. Members of the Irish contingent of UNIFIL have been caught in the crossfire numerous times in the past.
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