The Permanent Military Court of Lebanon has communicated to the United Nations Interim Force for Lebanon (UNIFIL) the sentences on the attack that took place on June 24, 2007 against a BMR vehicle of the Spanish contingent in the near the town of El Khiam and perpetrated by means of a vehicle with an explosive device.
As reported in a press release by the Defense Staff, the defendant, Naim Hammoud, who is currently in prison, has been convicted of two crimes. For the first of them, to life imprisonment for killing six Spanish soldiers and trying to kill another two, who survived the detonation of a car bomb.
For the second, to 15 years in prison for creating an armed group with the purpose of committing crimes against people, undermining the authority of the State, possessing explosive materials to perpetrate terrorist acts, perpetrating terrorist acts and transporting military weapons without a license.
The soldiers who died were the legionary paratroopers Juan Carlos Villoria Díaz, Jonathan Galea García, Yeison Alejandro Castaño Abadía, Jeferson Vargas Moya, Yhon Edisson Posada Valencia and Manuel David Portas Ruiz.
The Spanish contingent deployed in Lebanon had 1,100 men deployed since last February. Spanish General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz is the Head of Mission and Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Currently, the mission is made up of 3,500 troops, of which 650 are Spanish.
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