Two Norwegian soldiers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were seriously injured Sunday when they wandered into a mine field in the southern Lebanon security zone, north of Marjayoun. One soldier lost a leg.
Rescue efforts were hampered by shots fired from unknown sources. According to UNIFIL, that was “standard practice” on the part of the rival guerrilla and militia groups in southern Lebanon.
The rescue was hazardous in any event. It took more than six hours for medical teams to extricate the more seriously injured of the two soldiers, who was lying well within the mine field.
UNIFIL sources could not explain why the two soldiers left the safe track on which they were walking.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
