A roadside bomb has blown up a UN vehicle near the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon, injuring six French peacekeepers.
'It was a roadside bomb that hit a UN troop carrier on a bridge in Sidon,' a Lebanese security official said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said six French soldiers had been injured and called for the Lebanese authorities to do everything they could to find out what happened and bring those responsible to justice.
'We will not tolerate that security personnel deployed in the framework of a UN peacekeeping mission is undermined like this,' Mr Juppe said in a statement.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati ordered an investigation into the incident, his office said in a statement.
The Defence Forces have confirmed no Irish were involved in the explosion.
A similar attack near Sidon in May wounded six Italian peacekeepers, prompting Italy to look into reducing its peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon.
UNIFIL has about 12,000 troops and naval personnel in the country after its expansion under UN Security Council resolution 1701 that halted the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL operates alongside 15,000 Lebanese army troops who are deployed in the south to keep peace near the frontier with Israel and prevent weapon transfers in an area that is a stronghold of Hezbollah militant group.
Irish convoy travelled route
A spokesperson for the Defence Forces has confirmed that an Irish convoy travelled the road in Sidon earlier today.
The time of the journey cannot be released for security and operational reasons.
The Defence Forces say Irish troops are aware of the threat of such attacks and are prepared in any event.
Irish peacekeepers will continue to patrol with certain restrictions.
