Lebanese residents prevent UN peacekeeper search

Residents of a southern Lebanese village on Saturday prevented United Nations peacekeepers from searching an abandoned building near a suspected Hezbollah weapons depot that recently exploded, a security official said.

Dozens of villagers in Bir el-Salasel, which is located near the Israeli border in an area where Hezbollah has strong support, ordered the peacekeepers to leave and threw stones at their vehicles, said the official.

Others blocked a nearby road to prevent more peacekeepers from coming to help their colleagues. The Lebanese army eventually arrived and escorted the peacekeepers out of the area, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. There were no injuries, he said.

Bir el-Salasel is located close to Khirbet Silim, the site of Tuesday's explosion in an abandoned building about 9 miles (15 kilometers) from the Israeli border. Lebanese officials have said the explosion was caused by a fire in a Hezbollah weapons storage facility. Hezbollah has remained silent.

UN peacekeepers had no immediate comment on Saturday's incident, but they earlier said the weapons depot was a "serious violation" of a ceasefire that ended a 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. The cease-fire prohibits Hezbollah from engaging in military activities in south Lebanon and forbids weapon smuggling to the group.

After the explosion, Israel accused Iran and Syria of violating those conditions by sending weapons to Hezbollah.

Under the ceasefire, a 13,300-member UN peacekeeping force was deployed along Lebanon's border with Israel to help 15,000 Lebanese government troops extend their authority into the south for the first time in decades and create a buffer zone free of Hezbollah fighters.