BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Lebanon complained to the United Nations about an Israeli strike while a group held responsible for an attack on Israel blamed Syria for the operation.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon sent more troops to the southern Lebanese border last week after Katysusha rockets were fired on Israel from Lebanese territory. Israeli forces responded by firing six heavy artillery shells near the border region.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman expressed frustration over what was considered a disproportionate response. Beirut filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council Monday over the border raid, Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper reports.
UNIFIL said the incident was a serious breach of a cease-fire that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, as outlined in Security Council Resolution 1701.
The Daily Star said the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaida group sympathetic to Palestinian issues, was behind the initial incident.
In November, the U.S. State Department listed Ibrahim Suleiman Hamad al-Hablain as a global terrorist. He was identified as an explosives export and operative for the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. His group, in a statement published by the Daily Star, blamed Syria for the attack.
"This operation was carried out for the benefit of the Bashar (Assad) regime and its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, by the hands of a group that has ties with the (Hezbollah) party and is known by us," the statement read.
