TRIPOLI, LEBANON — A bomb ripped through a United Nations convoy in southern Lebanon on Sunday, killing six peacekeepers under Spanish command.
The attack, which took place on a day when the Lebanese military fought a bloody battle against Sunni Muslim radicals in the north, heightened fears that a second front may have opened in the fight here against militants linked to Al Qaeda.
The attacks on opposite ends of the country could stretch the Lebanese army further and weaken a country already beset by sectarian tension, political stalemate and a worsening economic crisis.
The Lebanese army is locked in a monthlong battle against a group of Sunni militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp north of Tripoli, where Sunday's gun battle took place.
"The arena for conflict has moved to the south; this is very worrisome," said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The peacekeepers from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, three Spaniards and three Colombians, were patrolling a predominantly Christian area of villages and olive groves near the borders with Israel and Syria when the bomb detonated about 5:30 p.m., U.N. officials said.
The bomb, which burned one personnel carrier and severely damaged another vehicle, probably was detonated by remote control, Spanish Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said at a news conference in Madrid. It exploded on a paved road frequently used by UNIFIL convoys traveling between Khiam and Marjayoun, near the peacekeepers' base, the Miguel de Cervantes camp.
"Without a doubt, we are dealing with a premeditated attack," Alonso said. "In the last few weeks, there have been many incidents which have destabilized Lebanon. We were on high alert, and we had stepped up security."
Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano, the commander of U.N. troops in Lebanon, said the attackers "were not only targeting UNIFIL but peace and security in the area.... At this difficult moment I want to stress that all UNIFIL troops remain committed more than ever to its mission and resolve to implement the tasks mandated by the Security Council."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was in Paris to meet with French and Lebanese officials including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, denounced the attack.
"The UNIFIL mission has been very important in helping to bring about an end to the Lebanon war of last summer and helping to bring security so that the people of Lebanon could return to normal life," Rice said, according to the Associated Press.
