Irish troops 'all well and accounted for' in South Lebanon

Vivienne Clarke

Defence Forces spokesperson, Commandant Alex Quigley, has said that the Irish troops on UNIFIL duty in South Lebanon are “all well and accounted for.”

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Comdt. Quigley said operations were ongoing and protection measures were in place to mitigate against the volatility of the region and the current “heightened intensity.”

“The important thing to know is that even in times of heightened intensity like this, the Irish Defence Forces personnel are trained and prepared to operate in these environments, so the framework operations are still ongoing and the monitoring of the cessation of hostilities and supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces are still ongoing.

"But during these periods there are times when the personnel may be deployed to the bunkers due to incoming strikes, and we saw some of them yesterday, but the important thing is that from the bunkers they are still able to maintain a situational awareness to enable the troops to still fulfil the mandated tasks.”

Comdt. Quigley said there were airstrikes in the area and that protection measures could be scaled up to match the intensity of the situation. The troops were able to maintain “situational awareness” from the bunkers and remain in communication with forward posts.

Irish troops had undergone a six month training programme prior to their deployment which prepared them for situations such as the current one, he said.

“The troops are well led and they're well prepared to operate in periods of both heightened intensity and low intensity. So, that would be the most important thing there.”

The Defence Forces press office would be updating families of the personnel in South Lebanon, he added. Camp Shamrock had wifi, so when the situation allowed, troops could contact home.