UNIFIL commander - all quiet on the northern front

The Jerusalem Post is carrying an in-depth piece with the Italian commander of UNIFIL forces in Lebanon. Here’s a money quote:

Graziano, however, dismisses these claims and says that the guerrilla group is practically nonexistent south of the Litani. "In my area of operations there is no open hostile activity, and we also do not see a rearmament happening," he said. "We are physically patrolling every corner of southern Lebanon, and if there were a bunker [system], we would have found it." If Israel were to transfer intelligence on Hizbullah positions to UNIFIL, he would immediately send forces to inspect, he added. "If we receive indication, we work to prevent hostile activities, but there is no evidence of any rearmament happening in southern Lebanon," he says. "There is no one going around southern Lebanon with weapons - and if we did see someone, even a hunter, then they would be arrested."

Maybe it would be a more prudent use of UNIFIL’s time and resources if UNIFIL concentrated on bomb makers rather than hunters. Taken from the Jerusalem Post:

At least five Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed and three others wounded in an attack on a UNIFIL patrol in southern Lebanon on Sunday afternoon. The incident took place near Al-Hijam, south of Marj Ayoun, on the eastern part of the border with Israel. UNIFIL forces were on route to the site of the attack to investigate.

A senior Lebanese official in Beirut said a mine may have caused the explosion. But another security official based in southern Lebanon said the explosion was caused by a bomb that was placed on the side of the main road where the UNIFIL APC was traveling. The attack late Sunday afternoon was the first ever against UNIFIL forces in the region. Shortly afterward, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos to express Israel's condolences over the attack. No organization claimed responsibility for the attack, but forces affiliated with al-Qaida were cited as the possible initiators of the attack, an analyst speaking on Israel Radio said moments after the explosion.

The village of al-Hajam was allegedly used as a Hezbollah headquarters during last summer’s war with Lebanon.