A specialist explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team from UNIFIL’s Italian contingent safely disposed of an armed drone that had crashed – under circumstances still under investigation – amid heavy exchanges of fire along a section of the road between UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura and Al Mansouri earlier this week.
In accordance with UNIFIL’s operational procedures, the EOD team was deployed to the crash site on 23 March, and prior to the safe handling of the armed drone, the team secured the area and neutralized the drone.
UNIFIL has launched an investigation to determine the origin of the drone and to clarify the circumstances of the crash.
UNIFIL peacekeepers reported intense combat in the area at the time of the drone crash.
The work carried out by the peacekeepers in securing the road is essential to ensuring the safe movement of UNIFIL’s logistical convoys and patrols as well as humanitarian actors at this volatile time.
