Why are Indian soldiers deployed in Lebanon amidst the war: UN peacekeepers deployed for 46 years; had saved the lives of Pakistani soldiers in Africa
The war between Israel and Lebanon has been going on for 8 days. More than 700 people have died in this war so far. At the same time, Israel has killed the commanders of Hezbollah’s missile and drone unit in an airstrike. Meanwhile, an Indian Army soldier posted in Israel has been brought to India by air ambulance on Thursday morning.
According to reports, the soldier’s name is Havildar Suresh R (33). He was admitted to a hospital in Israel for the last 30 days. He has suffered head injuries due to which he was unable to recognize places and people. The reason for the injury is not clear.
Suresh was part of the United Nations mission in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, UNDOF. UNDOF is a peacekeeping mission whose job is to maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Syria and try to reduce tensions between the armies of the two countries.
Apart from Golan Heights, India also has 900 soldiers in Lebanon. They are a part of UNIFIL whose job is to maintain peace between Lebanon and Israel.
In such a situation, the question arises that what are Indian soldiers doing on the Israel border amidst the war? Let us know the answer to this question in this story…
Indian soldiers deployed to stop the war between Israel and Lebanon It was March 1978. Pro-Palestine militants in Lebanon brutally murdered dozens of Jews. To avenge these murders, the Israeli army launched an operation to eliminate terrorists in southern Lebanon. After this, a war broke out between the two countries. This was called an attack on Lebanon by Israel.
When this matter reached the UN, the United Nations Security Council immediately passed a resolution to establish peace at this place. According to this resolution, the Israeli army was asked to immediately return from the Lebanon border.
The UN took custody of the place from where the Israeli army had retreated. Since then, this area is under the control of the United Nations. International forces were deployed by the UN to establish peace in this area.
These soldiers are called United Nations Interim Force or UNIFIL. UNIFIL has been deployed here since 1978. The 110 kilometer area where UN forces are deployed in southern Lebanon is called the ‘Blue Line’. This is a buffer zone between the two countries.
At present, there are about 10,500 peacekeepers from 48 countries in the UN Peace Mission. At present, 900 peacekeepers from India are also deployed near the Israeli border in southern Lebanon.
When Indian soldiers saved the lives of Pakistani soldiers In 1999, retired Major General Rajpal Poonia went to Sierra Leone in South Africa for a UN Peace Mission. To establish peace here, he had to conduct an operation against small local terrorist organizations. These terrorist organizations often resorted to violence here to put pressure on the local government.
According to Poonia, this UN mission was so dangerous that soldiers of 16 countries had surrendered. After this, the responsibility of completing this mission was given to the Indian Army by the UN. As soon as the Indian soldiers took charge of the front, the terrorists surrounded the entire company and asked them to surrender. The Indian soldiers decided not to surrender.
The terrorists had taken the Pakistani soldiers hostage. When there was no way left, Indian soldiers started the operation and rescued the Pakistani soldiers. These Pakistani soldiers saluted the Indian Army before returning from the mission.
