Three Lebanese Sentenced to Life in Prison over Attacks against UNIFIL

The military court on Wednesday sentenced in absentia three Lebanese nationals to life in prison over their involvement in attacks against the UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon.

Mohammed Zayyat, Samer al-Reech and Mahmoud Derbass were convicted of attacking U.N. peacekeeping troops and were given life in prison with hard labor.

The three men were previously released during the process of the trial but did not show up at court for the hearings.

The court's rule, however, can be appealed in the case the three men turned themselves in to the military court or were arrested by Internal Security Forces.

On December 9, 2011, five French soldiers and two civilians were wounded by a powerful roadside bomb that targeted a UNIFIL patrol in the southern coastal city of Tyre.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said the 5 peacekeepers were injured when an explosion targeted their patrol in an area south of Tyre around 9:30 am. He did not specify to which contingent they belonged to.

A security official told Agence France Presse that a bomb was hidden under dirt on the side of the road and detonated as the soldiers were driving by in a four-wheeler.

The blast left a one-meter deep crater and caused damages to nearby houses.

Also, a French U.N. patrol was attacked on July 26 and Italian peacekeepers were targeted on May 27.