UN peacekeeping vehicle hit

Two UN peacekeeping soldiers have been wounded after a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in south Lebanon.

Lebanese security sources said the injured soldiers were Irish.

The blast smashed the windows of their white UN four-wheel drive vehicle in the area of Rmaileh village to the south of Beirut.

The village is close to the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, which has proved to be a hotbed for Islamist militant groups in the past.

It is the third attack on the 13,500-strong force known as UNIFIL since it was expanded after a 34-day war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas ended in August 2006.

It occurred hours after Israel said two rockets fired from Lebanon overnight had exploded in the northern border village of Shlomi, causing no casualties.

Israel, which came under Hezbollah rocket barrages during the 2006 war, is on high alert ahead of a visit by US President George W Bush that begins on Wednesday.

Several Palestinian militant groups have a presence in Lebanon and have at times launched attacks across the border.

UNIFIL works alongside thousands of Lebanese army troops who were deployed in the south to stabilise the border area and keep it clear of armed Hezbollah guerrillas after the war.

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