BEIRUT, Aug 9 (KUNA) -- Six Lebanese Army troops died and a number of others suffered injuries while defusing ammunition in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the military said in a statement.
The statement said the deadly incident happened when the troops were searching an arms depot and defusing stored military ordnance in Wadi Zibqin, indicating that the casualty figure was preliminary.
The injured were whisked to hospitals and the military began investigations into circumstances of the deadly accident.
Earlier, the official National News Agency said the troops were examining and defusing shells left behind by the Israeli occupation forces near the town of Majdal Zoun, in the Tyre region.
President Joseph Aoun, a former army commander, expressed distress for the death of the military personnel, addressed condolences to the army and the victims' next of kin. Prime Minister Nawaf, on his X account, expressed identical sorrow to the army and the victims' families.
Elsewhere, one person died in an Israeli occupation air strike on a car in Ainata town near Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, the ministry of health said in a statement.
The Israeli occupation forces have been breaching a November cease-fire on daily basis. They have been holding a number of points inside the Lebanese territories in violation of the UN Resolution 1701.
The fatal accident involving the army forces came after the Lebanese government endorsed plans to collect arms throughout the national territories to re-assert the State authorities. (end) fz.rk