By Nicholas Blanford BEIRUT: Preliminary findings of the investigation into Tuesday’s bomb attack against a convoy of French UNIFIL soldiers suggest that the explosive device was detonated by a command wire, allowing it to circumvent the electronic defenses used on UNIFIL vehicles, The Daily Star learned Wednesday. Components of the command wire were discovered by investigators shortly after the 6 p.m. bomb blast that wounded five French soldiers at the southern end of Sidon. The use of a command wire suggests the perpetrator could have been relatively close to the scene of the blast, allowing him to see the approaching convoy and set off the bomb as it passed by. The bomb was planted on the edge of a patch of rough ground where a command wire could have been hidden. An alternative is that the command wire was connected to an electronic receiver, such as a cellphone, located out of range of the convoy’s radio frequency jammers. That technique would allow the perpetrator to stand much further away and dial the number of the cellphone connected to the command wire. The cellphone would receive the incoming signal and detonate the bomb via the attached command wire. In May, six Italian soldiers were wounded when a bomb of approximately 10 kilograms exploded at the northern entrance to Sidon. It was the first attack against UNIFIL since January 2008, when a similarly sized bomb exploded also north of Sidon beside a jeep, wounding two members of the Irish UNIFIL contingent. Following the May bombing against the Italians, UNIFIL officials privately acknowledged that further attacks were possible, a consequence of heightened tensions in Lebanon and the region. Initially, it appears that Tuesday’s bombing bore similarities to the previous two attacks in the Sidon area. Security sources said that the bomb was approximately 10 kilograms and was a Claymore-style device which discharged hundreds of steel ball bearings. Investigators found little explosive residue behind the bomb, suggesting that it may have been shaped in such a way to direct the blast laterally against the targeted vehicle. While the use of shaped-charge techniques shows a certain degree of expertise, it may not help in narrowing down the identity of the perpetrators. The turmoil and insurgencies that have engulfed the Middle East and Asia over the past decade have created numerous skilled practitioners in the art of bomb-making and detonation techniques, some of whom may well reside in Lebanon. This latest bomb attack, like others against UNIFIL in the past, has gone unclaimed, leaving open a wide array of suspects and motives. Unhappily for UNIFIL, the 11,000-strong force is a sitting duck for this kind of attack. It is probably no coincidence that the last three attacks have occurred in the Sidon area. First, it lends some weight to theories that the perpetrators may emanate from the nearby Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp or from Sunni jihadist circles in the Iqlim al-Kharroub.Second, Sidon is a natural choke point. Any UNIFIL vehicle travelling between Beirut and the south has to pass through the city as other road routes – such as via the Western Bekaa – are not permitted. Furthermore, Sidon’s crowded streets and the lower level of security, compared to UNIFIL’s area of operation south of the Litani river where the Lebanese Army also operates in strength, allows greater freedom for attackers to plant and detonate bombs. Since UNIFIL’s expansion following the 2006 war, force protection has been a top concern, particularly given the predominance of large European battalions. The challenge facing UNIFIL now is to augment its security measures without allowing the need for improved force protection to undermine its ability to carry out its mandate. Still, if there are further bomb attacks against European troops in UNIFIL – particularly if any of them prove fatal – how long will it be before their respective governments decide to call it a day in south Lebanon? |
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