26 charged over UNIFIL attack, $29,000 were stolen from vehicle
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki has charged 26 suspects with involvement in the February 13 attack on UNIFIL forces on the Beirut airport road.
The 26 charged include five detainees, two of whom are only 17 years old.
The charges include forming a gang of wrongdoers, attacking UNIFIL vehicles, attempted murder, terrorism and money theft.
“Thirteen people have gone into hiding since the incident and security agencies are trying to apprehend them, after their full identities were determined and their roles in the attack on peacekeepers were verified,” media reports said.
“Three young men intercepted the vehicles, besieged them, hurled rocks at them and beat up the peacekeepers, as a minor hurled Molotov bombs at a vehicle, which went up in flames,” the reports said, citing the investigations.
“Three UNIFIL members were wounded, including the outgoing Nepalese deputy head of mission, as $29,000 that he was carrying were stolen from a bag in the vehicle,” the reports added.
The suspects face penalties that can reach life imprisonment with hard labor, especially that they were charged with attempting to murder UNIFIL troops and also harming Lebanese Army soldiers.
The attack took place during demos by Hezbollah supporters who were protesting a Lebanese authorities’ decision to ban Iranian flights from landing at Beirut’s airport.
Source: Naharnet
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