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View all search resultsTNI considers possible reduction of peacekeepers
The Indonesian Military (TNI) is open to the possibility of reducing the number of peacekeepers deployed to Lebanon next month, as more Indonesian blue helmets were injured in the southern part of the country amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
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Personnel of Garuda Contingent XXVIII-P/UNIFIL's Maritime Task Force celebrate on Feb. 7 by throwing their berets into the air after disembarking from KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda in Surabaya, East Java. The warship, carrying 120 Indonesian Navy personnel, returned to Surabaya after finishing a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. (Antara/Didik Suhartono)
T
he Indonesian Military (TNI) is open to the possibility of reducing the number of peacekeepers to be deployed to Lebanon next month, as more Indonesian blue helmets were injured in the southern part of the country amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Three Indonesian soldiers serving in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were wounded on Friday in a blast at a UN facility near El Adeisse in southern Lebanon, two of them seriously injured. The cause of the blast remains under investigation, according to UNIFIL.
The incident followed the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers who were killed in two separate explosions on March 29 and 30 in southern Lebanon, where Israel has been expanding its ground invasion of the country.
The three fallen soldiers were flown to Jakarta for a military ceremony on Saturday night attended by President Prabowo Subianto and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, both of whom were former army generals. Their bodies were laid to rest in their respective hometowns on Sunday.
The two incidents in March also injured three other Indonesian peacekeepers.
Despite the fatalities and injuries, the TNI Peacekeeping Mission Center (PMPP) said plans remain underway for the peacekeeping troop rotation, with 753 Indonesian soldiers currently stationed in Lebanon set to be replaced by a new batch scheduled for deployment on May 22 and 30.
However, PMPP commander Maj. Gen. Iwan Bambang Setiawan said discussions might be on the table on whether to reduce the number of personnel deployed, since most of the troops in Lebanon have “largely been confined to bunkers” because of hostilities between the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces.
