Lebanon caretaker PM promises to ‘punish’ killers of Irish soldiers on UN duty

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that those responsible for the killing of an Irish soldier on a U.N. peacekeeping mission two days ago “will be punished.”
One soldier was shot and killed late on Wednesday and a second was in a critical condition after a hostile crowd surrounded their armoured vehicle in Lebanon’s south, Ireland’s defence minister said on Thursday.
Southern Lebanon is a stronghold for Hezbollah, a powerful armed group and a heavyweight political party backed by Iran. The party has denied a role in the violence, saying it was an “unintentional incident” between residents and the U.N. forces.
However, Ireland’s foreign and defence minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE that he did not accept Hezbollah’s assurances that it had no involvement.