UN peacekeeper wounded in southern Lebanon

The UN mission in Lebanon says one peacekeeper was lightly wounded after his base in the country's south was hit by a mortar shell.

The militant group Hezbollah, Hamas' allies in Lebanon, has clashed with Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israeli border since the Gaza war erupted on Oct. 7. The skirmishes have remained relatively contained and mostly along a handful of border towns.

The two mortar shells hit a UNIFEL base near the southeastern border village of Houla, the U.N. mission said. The wounded peacekeeper suffered minor injuries and is in stable condition. Earlier Saturday, a shell hit UNIFIL's headquarters in the southern coastal town of Naqoura, but there was no mention of injuries.

UNIFIL did not specify where the shelling came from, and said that they were investigating both incidents.

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after the 2006 war, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country's south for the first time in decades. (AP)