The United Nations is more determined than ever to stay in Lebanon following a Sunday bomb attack which killed six members of the Spanish military and injured two. It was the first deadly attack against the UN force UNIFIL since it was expanded to help stabilize the southern part of Lebanon following last summer's war, which saw Israel invade the country to battle Hezbollah militants. Early indications, however, suggest that Hezbollah was not involved.

"It's not an attack against Lebanon and UNIFIL only, but against the stability of the region," said Major-General Claudio Graziano, who commands the 13,000-strong force. "This attack has made UNIFIL more committed to fulfil its mission in southern Lebanon."

Spanish Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso travelled to Lebanon on Monday to collect the bodies of the dead soldiers, three of them Colombians serving in the Spanish army. Hezbollah has condemned the attack, and the Defense Ministry in Madrid on Monday is laying blame for the attack on the Palestinian extremist group Fatah Islam, according to a report in the Spanish daily El Pais. The group has not claimed responsibility, but Lebanese forces have been attempting to root the group out  of a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon and Fatah Islam has accused UNIFIL of bombarding the camp.

"We are working on the theory of a terrorist attack," Alonso said from Madrid shortly after the bomb went off. "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."

The bomb went off close to the border with Israel in southern Lebanon and threw the armored personnel carrier in which the peacekeepers were travelling to the side of the road. Investigators worked late into the night under floodlights looking for clues as to what happened. Lebanese officials said the lack of body parts indicated that a remote device had detonated the bomb, not a suicide bomber.

Rising tensions

Tension in Lebanon has risen lately as the government has tried to combat Islamic extremism. In late May, the Lebanese military began attacking an Islamist group called Fatah Islam, which was holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon called Nahr el-Bared. The group -- which allegedly has connections to al-Qaida -- has threatened to extend the violence (through terrorism) to other parts of the country. Fighting at Nahr el-Bared has killed 80 soldiers, at least 60 militants and more than 20 civilians and is the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Reports in early June suggested that captured militants had told interrogators of plots to attack the UN force.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is locked in a political battle with the Hezbollah-dominated opposition, condemned the "suspicious terrorist attack" on UN soldiers, and said that "it targets Lebanon's security and stability." Over in parliament, however, the anti-Syrian coalition which stands behind Saniora pointed fingers at Syria. Though Syria explicitly denied involvement and condemned the attack, parliamentarians issued a statement saying: "This attack falls within the framework of the same terrorist project the Syrian regime is waging against Lebanon, its stability and independence … through explosions and assassination."

The split in Lebanon between those who back Saniora, who is supported by the West, and those like Hezbollah who are closely allied with Syria has threatened recently to plunge the tiny country of Lebanon back into civil war. Many suspect Syria of being behind a number of high-profile assassinations, beginning with the 2005 truck bombing in Beirut which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Last month, the UN Security Council authorized an international tribunal  to prosecute suspects in the Hariri murder -- a move which was condemned by the Hezbollah opposition and Syria.

UNIFIL, which has been in Lebanon since 1978, was beefed up late last year in order to prevent a renewed flareup between Hezbollah and Israel. The force has traditionally had good relations with Hezbollah and there have been no incidents between the two forces in southern Lebanon since the end of the Israeli-Hezbollah war. Spain has 1,100 peacekeepers in Lebanon, part of the 13,000-member UN force. Lebanon likewise has 15,000 troops assisting in providing security in southern Lebanon.