RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Saturday strongly condemned an attack targeting a French contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon that left one soldier dead and several others injured.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the assault on the French battalion of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, reiterating the Kingdom’s “complete rejection of all forms of violence.”
Riyadh affirmed its support for the UNIFIL mission and stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, warning that such attacks must not go unpunished, particularly given their repeated nature.
The Kingdom extended its condolences to the government and people of France, and wished a swift recovery to those injured.
A French soldier was killed and three others wounded while clearing a road in southern Lebanon, in what UNIFIL and French officials said was likely an attack carried out by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
In separate calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned what his office described as an “unacceptable attack.”
UNIFIL said three peacekeepers were injured in the incident, two of them seriously.
