Irish peacekeeping troops in Lebanon have witnessed exchanges of gunfire on a daily basis, a commander in the area has said.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Mac Eoin is commanding officer 123rd infantry battalion of the Defence Forces, which has been in Lebanon since November as part of the United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil).
Tánaiste Micheál Martin visited troops at Camp Shamrock in Debel on Sunday.
Mr Mac Eoin said one of the main concerns of military chiefs is that peacekeeping forces could get caught up in the crossfire of exchanges between Hezbollah and the Israel Defence Forces near the southern border.
He said: “It has been a really busy and really interesting operational deployment.
“For the full duration of our deployment we’ve had a highly kinetic operational situation here on the blue line between north and south.
“Soldiers have responded really well, thanks to their training.”
He added: “We have had quite an amount of activity in terms of shelling, air strikes, machine gun fire, mortars, the use of various munitions.
“All around the area behind me here, which is in the south of Lebanon at the blue line frontier between Lebanon and Israel, there has been exchanges of fire on a daily basis and this fire has obviously caused a lot of damage and death in the local and surrounding area.
“Also we have had quite a number of incidents of firing close to our own positions here.”
Mr Mac Eoin said it can be challenging for soldiers when they arrive in Lebanon for the first time.
He said: “Support is available for people, we have the chaplaincy service, we also have the personnel support services.
“I will say that what we are dealing with is professional soldiers. They are volunteer soldiers who have chosen to join Oglaigh na hEireann and have in the main chosen to go overseas.
“Those soldiers are looking to be professionally challenged.
“We like to believe we have made a contribution to the stability of this region.”
He added: “Peacekeepers on the blue line are closest to the action.
“There is repeated exchanges of fire north and south across the blue line. Non-state actors here in south Lebanon, primarily Hezbollah, and the Israeli Defence Forces on the other side.
“Our personnel are not necessarily the target of these attacks but what causes us concern as commanders is that they may be subject to crossfire.
“We have had a number of occasions where rockets have been launched very close to our bases. Those rockets have gone either overhead or in very close proximity.
“If such rockets are intercepted, and they fall, that can cause a challenge. We have very well-rehearsed drills where we will go to bunkers while at the same time maintaining an active posture.”
