UN and Lebanon hold memorial for killed Irish peacekeeper
BEIRUT: The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers held a memorial at the Beirut airport on Sunday for an Irish soldier killed by a mob that opened fire last week at two vehicles belonging to the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, a traditional stronghold of the militant Hezbollah group.
The attack that killed 24 year-old Pvt. Seán Rooney of Newtowncunningham took place near the southern town of Al-Aqbiya on Wednesday night, as he and seven other Irish peacekeepers from UN peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, were on their way to the Beirut airport.
![An Irish soldier checks the time as he waits outside Hammoud Hospital in the southern city of Sidon (Saida) on December 18, 2022 to transport the body of Irish soldier Sean Rooney to Beirut airport for repatriation. (AFP) An Irish soldier checks the time as he waits outside Hammoud Hospital in the southern city of Sidon (Saida) on December 18, 2022 to transport the body of Irish soldier Sean Rooney to Beirut airport for repatriation. (AFP)](https://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/2022/12/18/3591281-434559180.jpg)