A German warship on UN mission has shot down a drone off the coast of Lebanon, as the conflict in the country continues to escalate and threaten even UN peacekeeping forces.
On Thursday, the German corvette warship, the Ludwigshafen am Rhein was operating as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) peacekeeping mission when it detected and shot down a drone off the coast not far from the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.
According to the news agency, Reuters, a spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry told it that the corvette brought an unidentified UAV into the water in a controlled crash, and that, following the incident, the ship is now continuing its duties.
The downing of the UAV was reportedly the result of the warship’s defense systems, the Bundeswehr military’s joint operations command, also stating on X that the drone approached one of its ships off the southern Lebanese coast.
And in accordance with procedure, electronic countermeasures were used and the UAV fell and exploded on its own. We are looking into the matter.
The source of the drone – as well as its model – has not yet been clarified or confirmed, with it potentially having been operated by a number of actors, including Hezbollah or Israel.
The incident comes at a time, however, when Israeli forces are increasingly responsible for conducting several attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point News 2024.
By the tone of the report it sounds like Germany shot down an Israeli drone, after UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon were attacked by Israeli tanks.