Injured evacuated to hospital
Photo: Doron Golan
IDF soldiers in Lebanon (Archive)
Photo: AFP
Minefield explosion (Archive)
Photo: Avihu Shapira
Soldier killed in IDF minefield
Several troops hurt after IDF forces walk into minefield in southern Lebanon; company commander seriously wounded in incident, battalion commander moderately hurt. Troops who rushed to help injured also hurt
Difficult morning in southern Lebanon: A Givati Brigade soldier was killed after IDF forces walked into a minefield in southern Lebanon Wednesday morning.
The commander of the company involved in the incident, a captain, and another soldier sustained serious wounds, while the battalion commander, a lieutenant general, was moderately injured. Several other troops sustained light injuries.
The three troops hurt in the incident were taken to Haifa's Rambam Hospital in helicopters. Hospital officials said the two were hospitalized in the intensive care unit while the third one was taken in for surgery.
The Givati force was engaged in route activity about two kilometers (roughly 1.2 miles) of the northern border, west of Kibbutz Yiftah. At around 5 a.m., the troops walked into an old IDF minefield.
Troops who rushed in to assist their comrades were also hurt, including the battalion commander.
Later, an IDF engineering vehicle was brought in to the area and assisted in evacuating the forces from the minefield.
Navigational error?
An initial IDF investigation appeared to suggest that the mines were swept away from the area where they were placed originally due to weather and ground conditions. As a result, the troops were unaware they were surrounded by mines.However, the investigation will also look into the possibility that the force made a navigational error, or alternately, that the minefield was not clearly marked on maps given to the troops.
Notably, reserve soldiers who fought in Lebanon have already complained that maps they were using during fighting were not up-to-date, with some structures not marked at all, a fact that led to great confusion and in some case resulted in friendly fire incidents.
