Spanish peacekeeper dies in Lebanon

USPA NEWS - A Spanish military of contingent of peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) died Wednesday during an Israeli attack on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The deceased is Cape Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, 36, and was part of a patrol to support the deployment of the Lebanese army in this territory.

The deceased soldier was married and was part of the 'Libre Hidalgo' mission peacekeepers in Lebanon, where he had been since last November. It was the second time serving in this country and its unit is deployed at the base Miguel de Cervantes in Marjayoun, in southern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), the area had been the scene on the morning of an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah guerilla, and it had hit several Israeli rockets.

Hostilities began with the attack on an Israeli tank in which two Israeli soldiers died and other two was injured. The attack was claimed by Hezbollah and Israel responded by launching rockets. After hearing what happened, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, expressed condolences to the family of the deceased soldier. The Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, demanded to UN the investigation of what happened, and Minister of Defense, Pedro Morenes, suspended an official trip to India and returned to Spain.

This Wednesday, the Security Council concluded that the Spanish military killed during an exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah militants, after being hit by a projectile. The place where stood guard is on the border between Israel and Lebanon, in an area of increasing violence between the two factions. Israel accused Iran of being behind the attack on an Israeli tank, in which two soldiers died.