Palace Reviews Deployment of TNI Troops to UNIFIL

State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi has stated that the government will reevaluate the deployment of Indonesian peacekeeping troops to UNIFIL following the deaths of three TNI soldiers serving there. He noted that statements from the Foreign Ministry and Indonesia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Umar Hadi, are part of the evaluation of the case. “Yes, definitely, so what the Foreign Minister conveyed is also part of the evaluation process. What we requested and what our representative at the UN conveyed is also part of that evaluation,” Pras said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (8/4). However, Pras remained brief regarding the possibility of Indonesia withdrawing its troops from the mission. He said that the step would first await the results of a thorough UN investigation that led to the deaths of the three TNI soldiers in UNIFIL. “We haven’t received the report yet,” he said. Calls for Indonesia to withdraw TNI troops serving as peacekeepers in UNIFIL have recently emerged following the deaths of the three TNI soldiers in UNIFIL. They died in separate attacks in Lebanon; they were Praka Farizal Rhomadhon, Kapten Inf Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, and Sertu Muhammad Nur Ichwan. In addition to the fatalities, several TNI troops sustained injuries. In a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday (7/4), UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric provided details on the type and origin of the projectiles that struck UNIFIL troops in the two incidents. “Regarding the 29 March incident, based on available evidence, including analysis of the impact location and particularly the projectile fragments found at United Nations Position 7-1, the projectile was a 120 mm main tank round, fired by an Israeli Defense Forces Merkava tank from the east towards Ett Taibe,” Dujarric said.