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Originally posted by Goldie fish
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Not everybody gets a Marty Morrissey/Terry Prone makeover prior to media exposure. -
Ridiculous posts.. He would have been cleared by the Army Press Section to speak and for all intents and purposes he said it as it is.. He did not reflect the DF in any poor light.Comment
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Good video on the work of Observer Group Lebanon UNTSO.
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Another updated UNIFIL map has been published.
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"108 IRISHFINN Battalion, UNIFIL conducted an inter-company March and Shoot competition in south Lebanon. Soldiers from the Battalion had to run 2km in combat body armour, helmet, battlevest with personal weapons and conduct a shoot from 50m and 25m in the kneeling and standing positions. It was a timed event and a detailed message had to be memorised and delivered verbally after the shoot.
The purpose of the competition was to test soldiers' combat fitness, combat marksmanship, teamwork, leadership and communication skills."
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The music's gone from one extreme to another!! Is there ever competitions run like this at home as part of military skills comp or separately?Everyone who's ever loved you was wrong.Comment
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March and shoot competitions are a regular eventComment
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The Minister is on another trip to the Middle East
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"On the second day of his visit to the Middle East , Minister Shatter was a guest at the Transition of Authority Ceremony in UN Post 2-45, where Finland assumed command of the joint Irish Finnish Battalion from Ireland"
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171 Irish troops due home as their replacements settle in for Christmas in Lebanon
The 108th Battalion troops will be welcomed home by family members and well-wishers at Dublin Airport today
THE LAST OF the 340 Irish troops who have been serving with the 108th UNIFIL Battalion in Lebanon will fly into to Dublin Airport at around 1pm this afternoon.
Their replacements from the 170-strong 42nd Infantry Group have flown out over the last week or so, and are now settling into their new digs at ‘Camp Shamrock’ ahead of a six month tour-of-duty. 171 personnel from the last deployment are due home this afternoon; the rest flew back last week.
The soldiers have taken part in a number of special projects in recent months, including 13 humanitarian projects, programmes to install water pumps and generators, and a ‘community integration’ effort which involves Irish troops teaching English to local schoolchildren.
It’s a joint Irish-Finnish UNIFIL mission: on the next six-month deployment a Finnish commander will be in charge, taking over from Ireland’s Lieutenant Colonel Tony McKenna.
Lieutenant Colonel Ray Yorke, from Edgeworthstown in Longford is the new commander of the Irish troops, who are headquartered around around 7 km from the blue line boundary between Lebanon and Israel, south of the village of At Tiri.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was established in 1978 following the withdrawal of Israel’s troops, with the aim of restoring peace and security. Its mandate has been renewed every year since.
In excess of 400 Irish troops will be spending Christmas overseas this year, in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere.Comment
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Sorry Rhodes for the dislike... A sudden outbreak of fat finger syndrome"Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"Comment
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170 Irish troops return from six month tour of duty in Lebanon
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"Members of the 108th Battalion return home from Lebanon after a six month tour of duty."
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IDF soldier killed in Lebanese border shooting identified as St.-Sgt. Maj. Shlomi Cohen
By YAAKOV LAPPIN
LAST UPDATED: 12/16/2013 09:57
Israel suspects Lebanese soldier acting alone opened fire; IDF will have to examine how Cohen was permitted to drive alone at night near the frontier, former senior IDF official says.
An IDF soldier has been killed by cross-border gunfire from Lebanon while driving in an army vehicle on Sunday night. He has been named as 31-year-old St.-Sgt. Maj. Shlomi Cohen, from Afula.
Cohen, a Noncom from the Israel Navy, was carrying out an official mission near an IDF border post in the Rosh Hanikra region, and was driving some 50 meters away from the border, when six to seven shots struck him and the jeep, critically injuring him.Paramedics rushed Cohen to the Nahariya Hospital for the Western Galillee, but he succumbed to his injuries soon afterwards.
After the shooting, IDF soldiers spotted suspicious figures on the Lebanese side of the border, and opened fire at them. An IDF source said it was not immediately clear if there were casualties on the Lebanese side of the border as a result.
An initial IDF assessment, based on data from lookout positions on the border, found that Cohen was hit by shots fired by a soldier from the Lebanese Armed Forces, who apparently acted alone.
"We are sending messages to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) regarding the severity of this incident. There is no indication that an infiltration into our territory occurred," the army source said on Sunday night. "The IDF is prepared in the North," he warned.
The shooting occurred at around 9 p.m. on Sunday.
The IDF said in a statement that it is investigating the shooting, adding that it reserved the right to respond at a time and place it sees fit.
The source added that several details, such as the identity of the Lebanese soldier, remain currently unknown.
Lebanese sources said they had lost contact with the Lebanese soldier after the shooting.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. said, "We are now trying to determine the facts of what happened and the situation is ongoing.
UNIFIL's force commander is in contact with counterparts in the Lebanese and Israeli army, urging restraint."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday that both the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese military were cooperating with the investigation, though he urged both sides to maintain calm.
Cohen will be laid to rest at the Haifa military cemetery on Monday evening.
Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Israel Ziv, former head of the Operations Branch in the IDF, told Army Radio on Monday morning that the IDF will have to examine how Cohen was permitted to drive alone at night near the frontier.
"The chances of Hezbollah [being responsible] are very low. This does not fit in with their pattern, it's not in their interest, and it didn't occur in an area they are active in," Ziv said.
"What was the motivation of the [Lebanese] soldier? All options could be true. The Lebanese army also does not have an interest in this happening," Ziv added. He added that the Lebanese Armed Forces, which has limited capabilities but strong discipline and internal order, will investigate the shooting.
Yaakov Biton, a relative of Cohen, described him as a "modest, quiet guy, very dedicated to his wife and daughter." Weeping quietly while speaking to Army Radio, Biton said Cohen leaves behind his wife, Ma'ayan and a daughter who will turn one next month.
The young family had bought an apartment and planned to move soon. "All of these plans are gone now," Biton saidComment
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Lebanese Soldier 'Hands Himself in' After Deadly Shooting
Lebanese soldier who shot dead IDF First Sergeant Shlomi Cohen spent the night 'hiding in a bush', and handed himself in this morning.
By Ari Soffer . Israel National News
First Publish: 12/16/2013, 10:02 AM
IDF Master Sergeant Shlomi Cohen
Courtesy of the family
The Lebanese soldier who shot dead IDF Master Sergeant Shlomi Cohen in an unprovoked attack Sunday evening has reportedly handed himself in to Lebanese authorities.
According to Lebanese media, after briefly disappearing in the aftermath of the attack and spending the night "hiding in a bush", the unnamed soldier reported for duty at the Lebanese General Security post at the Ras al-Naqoura border crossing, surrendering himself as the site where he committed the shooting just hours earlier.
31 year-old Shlomi Cohen, a resident of the northern Israeli city of Afula, was killed after the Lebanese soldier fired around half a dozen bullets towards him, before reportedly being stopped by his comrades and then promptly fleeing.
The attacker is believed to have acted alone, but it remains to be seen what disciplinary action, if any, will be taken in response by the Lebanese military.
Meanwhile, the IDF has said that it is still investigating the incident, and stressed that it "is ready for any action that will be required and will not tolerate any harm to Israeli citizens," adding that "The IDF reserves the right to respond when and where it sees fit".
The shooting comes amid simmering tensions along Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
Earlier this month, Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah blamed the assassination of a senior commander on Israel, despite two Sunni Islamist groups claiming responsibility.
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon reacted to those accusations by warning the Iranian-backed organization against attacking Israel in revenge for Hassan Hawlo al-Lakiss's killing, which took place east of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Just this past Thursday, an IDF patrol came under fire in the northern Galilee, near the border with Lebanon. IDF soldiers returned fire, and no injuries were reported.
But tensions were high even prior to Al-Lakiss' assassination.
In August, four Israeli soldiers on patrol were wounded in a blast 400 meters inside Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah took credit for the explosion, its first such claim since the 2006 Second Lebanon War.Comment
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