Sources: 5 UNIFIL troops dead, 3 hurt in S. Lebanon blast

[oberliner]

Five Spanish United Nations peacekeepers were killed Sunday and three others wounded in an explosion targeting UN troops in southern Lebanon, a senior Lebanese security official said.

Security sources in Lebanon reported that Spanish troops hit a roadside bomb while on patrol. The explosion was said to have completely burned an armored troop carrier and to have damaged another vehicle, near the southeastern town of Khiyam.

The bomb had been planted on the side of a road between the towns of Marjayoun and Khiam, about six kilometers north of the Israeli border town of Metulla. Security sources said the bomb had been operated by remote control.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, confirmed the explosion but only said there were causalities without giving a specific number or confirming if its peacekeepers were killed. UNIFIL said it suspected that the blast was caused by an explosive device, according to a statement.

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