Major Paeta Hess-Von Kruedener

[RL206]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-mideast-fighting-un-observers,1,4383332.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
Israel Hits U.N. Post; Casualties Reported

By Associated Press
Published July 25, 2006, 4:10 PM CDT


BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A U.N. observer post was hit by an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon Tuesday and there were casualties, a U.N. spokesman said. He could not specify how many or their condition.

A bomb directly impacted the building and shelter of an Indian patrol base from the observer force in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

"There are casualties among the observers. UNIFIL immediately dispatched a rescue and medical team and they're currently on the location but unable to clear the rubble," Struger told The Associated Press late Tuesday.

He also said there were 14 other incidents of firing close to this position from the Israeli side Tuesday afternoon. "The firing continued even during the rescue operation," he said.

Since Israel launched a massive military offensive against Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas July 12, an international civilian employee working with UNIFIL and his wife have been killed in the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas in the southern port city of Tyre.

Five UNIFIL soldiers and one military observer have also been wounded, Struger said.


The CBC is reporting 4 possibly killed including one Canadian.

 

[RL206]

Israel bomb kills 4 UN observers in Lebanon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike on Tuesday hit a U.N. base in southern Lebanon, killing four United Nations observers, Lebanese security sources said.

The UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon confirmed that there were U.N. casualties but declined to say if any observers had been killed at the base, which appears to have collapsed while the U.N. observers were in the shelter.

"One aerial bomb directly impacted the building and shelter in the base of the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon in the area of Khiam," said Milos Strugar, a UNIFIL spokesman.

"There are casualties among the observers. A UNIFIL dispatched rescue team which is on the spot is still unable to clear the rubble," he said.

"There were 14 other incidents of firing close to this position in the afternoon from the Israeli side and the firing continued during the rescue operation," he said.

In Jerusalem, an Israeli army spokeswoman said the military was investigating the report.

In Rome, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan declined immediate comment on the bombing. "We are trying to get more details".

An Israeli tank shell hit a UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon on Monday, wounding four Ghanaian soldiers. Shrapnel from tank shells fired from the Israeli side seriously wounded an Indian soldier last week and Hizbollah fire wounded an Italian observer on the border on Sunday.

In 1996, during Israel's Grapes of Wrath campaign in Lebanon, an Israeli jet bombed a UNIFIL compound in the southern village of Qana, killing 106 civilians sheltering inside.

UNIFIL was created in 1978 after Israel's first major invasion of southern Lebanon and has been there ever since. The United Nations has called for a bigger, better armed, more robust international force in the area.

 

[Sub_Guy]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CAC26504-558A-4814-81A3-720B1030B04F.htm

Israeli bombs kill five Indian soldiers
Wednesday 26 July 2006, 0:16 Makka Time, 21:16 GMT 
Israeli bombing hit a UN observation post in S Lebanon
Five Indian soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in south Lebanon were killed in Israeli shelling on Tuesday evening, Aljazeera correspondent reported.
An AFP report meanwhile said, quoting Lebanese police, that Israeli warplanes hit a  UN observation post during a raid in south Lebanon on Tuesday.
The post was hit in the hilltop town of Khiam, which sheltered an infamous prison during Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon, but is now a Hezbollah stronghold, the police said.
There was no immediate word on the condition of the UN peacekeepers inside the post.
UNIFIL sources were not immediately reachable for comment.
An AFP correspondent across the border in the town of Metulla in the far north of Israel saw heavy bombardment under way in the Khiam area.

 

[jollyjacktar]

I have a childhood friend who is in the area as a UNMO.  I hope it is not him.

 

[captjtq]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/mideast_lebanon_UN_060716/20060718/

Major Hess-von Kruedener of the PPCLI is over there - the above article/report is great. I'm hoping the 'unconfirmed' reports of a Canadian death are untrue.

 

[captjtq]

I'm watching CTV Newsnet right now - they're reporting that Lebanese authorities said that the observer casualties were Finnish, Australian, Chinese and a Canadian. Still no 'official' confirmation from the UN or DND. Newsnet also says that there is only one Canadian in Lebanon with the mission as a UNMO...

(ed for spelling/clarification)

 

[RL206]

One Canadian has been reported killed.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/07/25/1702125-ap.html

"One Canadian UN staffer was believed to be in the area struck by the bomb - a soldier with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who has reportedly been in the region for nine months."

 

[KAJ]

Canadian among UN observers feared dead in southern Lebanon
Last Updated Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:29:12 EDT
CBC News
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called upon the Israeli government to launch an investigation into an air strike that killed as many as four UN peacekeepers — including a Canadian — in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead," Annan said from Rome.

The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post in the town Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL. Canada is not a member of UNIFIL.

Trapped in the rubble

The other victims are from Austria, China and Finland. A UN official in New York City, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said four people were confirmed killed, while Lebanese security officials said two bodies remained trapped in the rubble.

Canada had eight personnel in the area as part of the UN Truce Supervision Organization.

One Canadian UN staffer — a soldier with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who has reportedly been in the region for nine months —  was believed to be in the area struck by the bomb.

No one connected with Canada's UNTSO mission, known as Operation Jade, was available for comment on Tuesday night.

'Personal assurances'

Annan said the attack took place "despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire."

Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., called Annan's reaction "deplorable." He said the observers were caught in crossfire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Struger said there had been 14 other incidents of firing close to this position from the Israeli side Tuesday afternoon.

"The firing continued even during the rescue operation," he said.

The UN base has been in operation since 1972 and co-ordinates the organization's activities in southern Lebanon.

With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press

 

[Haggis]

It's confirmed, one Canadian has been killed.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/07/25/1702125-ap.html

"One Canadian UN staffer was believed to be in the area struck by the bomb - a soldier with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who has reportedly been in the region for nine months."

Aww Crap!

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

May his death be held in as high regard as those in Afghanistan.  (not directed to anyone here really).

 

[Gunner]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/mideast_lebanon_UN_060716/20060718/

I know we have seen this link before. I don't know the deployment schedule nor how many PPCLI UNMOs are in Lebanon but it seems too much of a coincidence.  I didn't know him well but I ran into him a couple of times out west and he was an instructor at PSTC during my UNMO course.  I suspect his family would still be in Kingston.  If it is true, it is another very sad day in the army.

My name is Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, and I am an Infantry Officer with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, of the Canadian Forces. I was sent to this Mission (United Nations Truce and Supervision Organization -UNTSO) last October 05, and am currently serving as an unarmed Military Observer. I have now been stationed here in south Lebanon for Approximately nine months.

 

[garb811]

Unconfirmed at this time but reported on the CTV website.  Salient portion of the report shared under the Fair Dealings provisions...

Canadian reported killed as UN post hit by bomb
Updated Tue. Jul. 25 2006 10:44 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff


Four UN observers were killed Tuesday when an Israeli aerial bomb struck their base in southern Lebanon.  There are unconfirmed reports a Canadian is among the dead.

A bomb directly hit the building of the observer force in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

Struger said UNIFIL had dispatched a rescue team which was trying to clear the rubble when it came under more fire from Israeli forces.

A senior Lebanese military official said the dead included observers from Canada, Austria, China and Finland. 

However, the Department of National Defence has not confirmed the report. The federal government would only say there's been a significant incident involving a Canadian UN observer.

One Canadian soldier, with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry,  is currently serving with the UN at the base in Khiyam as part of  a mission called Operation Jade.

 

[pbi]

Hopefully, this is not Maj Paeta Hess von Kruedner ( occasionally known as 'HvK'), but I fear it is. Here is a wish that we don't have another name for the PPCLI Roll of Honour. Standing by.


Cheers

 

[jtonline]

Maj.  Hess-von Kruedener is at that base... He just sent CTV a status report on July 18.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/mideast_lebanon_UN_060716/20060718/

He has been stationed there for nine months - the same as is reported for the casualty:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1153864209424&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

I asked CTV to email him back to find out if he's safe.  Is there anyway of finding out sooner whether he's ok? 

Eitherway, my heart and prayers to the fallen soldier and his loved ones.

 

[JasonH]

I'm deeply unnerved that this has occured.  After hearing about his article in the Vancouver Province last week and finding out now he had been killed sent a chill down my back.  I really hope something comes of this, because this is just sickening that this has been allowed to occur despite repeated bombings and no follow-ups that resulted in these men being given better refuge from these deliberate bombing.

 

[Sub_Guy]

BS I am so pissed off/saddened by this news it is driving me crazy, I don't see how this could have been an accident. (from what I have read)

I keep hoping and praying that the media reports are incorrect.  But I know better, and it hurts..

Hopefully the unnecessary murder of the UN OBSERVERS will put an end to this bloodshed that is going on over there. 

My condolences to all the families of the victims. 

 

[jtonline]

Having read his email on July 19,  it felt like you met his aquaintence and got taken for a tour of his base.  Now these eerie unconfirmed reports... 

It gets spookier when you read him describing a shell landing a few feet from the base a couple of days ago:

"The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity." 

His last sentence sounds terribly ironic.  I don't understand.

ADDED:  Wait a second.  Didn't he just tell us the answer?    Does he mean the Israelis are purposely targetting not the base, but the immediate close proximity?? (Evidently communicated to the base)  If so - this is NOT "absolutely an accident"  as per the Israeli statement.

 

[big bad john]

This article is an example of why you shouldn't post speculation or rumours.  Don't we protect the families of our own fiercely.

http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=122136&catname=Local+News&classif=

'We're not giving up hope
Kingston soldier's family uneasy after Israeli bombs destroy UN base

Ian Elliot
Local News - Wednesday, July 26, 2006 @ 07:00

A Kingston woman spent yesterday praying that the Canadian soldier killed at a United Nations observation post in Lebanon was not her husband.

"I'm sure he's OK," Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener said, clutching a telephone. "He knows what he's doing, and what he should be doing in that situation. There's a bunker there that he could have gotten into. We're not giving up hope."

Her husband, Paeta, is posted in Lebanon as part of a United Nations mission. He's stationed at the UN Patrol Base in Khiam, which is about 10 kilometers from where the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian borders intersect.

That post was destroyed by Israeli bombs yesterday. Reports last night indicated two of the unarmed observers were killed, and two were missing after the attack.

A Canadian was said to be among them along with a Finn, a Chinese national and an Austrian.
The United Nations would not state the nationalities or identities of the personnel killed until their families had been notified.

That call had not been made to Kingston late last night, bolstering Hess-von Kruedener's hopes. She had spoken to her husband at 8 a.m. and was agonizingly hoping that he was all right.

Hess-von Kruedener is a major with Princess Patricia's Light Infantry and was with a parachute squadron in Trenton. He's nine months into a one-year tour of duty with the United Nations' observer force that has been monitoring the ceasefire there.

His base in Khiam had been fired upon by Israeli tanks earlier in the week, and Hess-von Kruedener said in an interview that personnel posted at the base had come under fire four times since he arrived.

"We have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing," he told CTV in an interview last Wednesday. "The closest artillery has landed within two meters of our position and the closest 1000-pound aerial bomb has landed 100 metres from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity."

In the same interview, he was referred to as the only Canadian manning the station.

"I am serving with an Australian, Chinese, Finnish, Austrian, and Irish officers," he told CTV. "They come from various different backgrounds, levels of experience and services from within their militaries."

Yesterday's bombardment drew immediate worldwide condemnation. UN chief Kofi Annan said Israel appeared to have struck the site, which was prominently marked and known to Israeli forces operating in the area, deliberately.

The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post in the town of Khiam, which is near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

Canada is not a member of UNIFIL but had Hess-von Kruedener and other officers posted there as part of the mission.

The Department of National Defence in Ottawa had no comment last night except to say that it was following developments.

Hess-von Kruedener was able to smile last night, saying she was sure her husband would be coming home and as the time dragged on had already made a promise on his behalf.

"He is never, ever going anywhere again," she said with as best a smile as she could manage under the circumstances.

ielliot@thewhig.com

 

[TMM]

Deepest condolences. Unfortunately it has been confirmed.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ContentPosting.aspx?newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20060725%2fisrael_fighting_060726&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&showbyline=True

 

[NavComm]

My sincere condolences to the family and friends. RIP