Niall O'Connor Reporting from Wicklow

AS THE DEATH toll of peacekeepers mounts in Lebanon, the commanding officer who will lead the last full Irish battalion of peacekeepers into the war torn country said his troops are training to deal with the “complex” situation.

Lieutenant Colonel Damian Carroll, on his sixth overseas deployment, was speaking in the Glen of Imaal where the 128 Infantry Battalion is undergoing final training before they travel to Lebanon in May.

Since the end of March five peacekeepers have lost their lives in South Lebanon after attacks by both the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah. The dead are from Indonesia and France. The Irish battalion currently in the country has been busy as they respond to assistance calls from fellow soldiers and civilians across the area of operations.  

The UN mission is due to end operationally on 31 December this year after the USA threatened to use its veto against the renewal of the mandate at the United Nations Security Council. This followed a campaign of lobbying by Israel which is opposed to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).   

As the US has reduced the amount of money it gives the UN, UNIFIL has been forced to make cuts. This means less Irish soldiers are funded by the international body.

Carroll said that there may be one last deployment before they leave to facilitate the drawdown of the Irish equipment at locations in the south of the country. 

“From a poignancy point of view, absolutely. The Defence Forces has been there for fifty years and soldiers have lost their lives in Lebanon.

“Ireland and Lebanon will be intertwined, irrespective of what happens in the future, based on our service with UNIFIL,” he said. 

Israel has lead a massive bombing campaign across the south and sent limited ground forces into south Lebanon in what they say is an operation to rid the area of Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah and the IDF have fought pitched battles and ordnance has been traded by both sides. The death toll is thought to be in the thousands. The situation is made all the worse by the IDF blowing up critical bridges and transportation links to Beirut. A fragile ceasefire is continuing in the area but fighting and bombings continue.

Contingency planning is underway to enable Irish troops to rotate troops currently deployed back home and send the 128th Infantry Battalion in their positions. 

Critically, the airport in Beirut is open and the roads south, while devastated, remain accessible.

Sources have said there are three options to be considered: the troops travel as normal to Beirut on a chartered flight and move through the warzone by road under armed guard, the troops fly to Cyprus and are sent by ship to the port cities of Tyre or Sidon or thirdly an Irish Air Corps Cargo Airbus 295 is sent to Cyprus and moves troops in multiple runs to Beirut. 

Carroll believes the most likely option will be the first contingency as they have proven they can still move by road. 

“I’m sure all courses of action are being looked at and how we will deploy. Good assurances, read about the extraction of the work party and the insertion of key personnel back into 127 Infantry Battalion.

“More recently our Polish colleagues that are based with us, were rotated out through Beirut Airport using their assets, I have no concerns in that regard, planning will continue and we are ready to deploy by whatever plan they decide,” he said. 

The deaths of the five peacekeepers is part of the consideration for Carroll and his troops. He explained however that such losses will not stop Irish troops from carrying out their mandate. 

“Conflict zones are difficult, we wouldn’t have soldiers in South Lebanon if it wasn’t complex. I have no real concerns because we trust our training, our equipment and our people.

“The training we have been undertaking recently has been built on from experiences on previous missions,” he added. 

In regard to the fact that evidence has confirmed that both Hezbollah and the IDF have killed peacekeepers he said: “That’s a challenge, our job demands us to be in a position, our mandate demands we are there at the moment,” he added. 

Carroll explained that the training has not been changed but that they train for every eventuality.

Recently a Polish soldier, who was serving with the same battalion as the Irish was injured by a roadside bomb, suspected to have been planted by Hezbollah. Today the training focused on a similar, albeit simulated, attack on Irish armoured personnel carriers.

The 128 Infantry Battalion will travel to Lebanon with 318 soldiers. The soldiers represent 28 counties and the biggest contributor is Dublin with 43 soldiers from the city and county.