The Lebanese army has arrested six people after gunmen attacked UN peacekeepers patrolling in the south of the country, the military said yesterday.

The UN force, known as UNIFIL, had reported that six men riding on three mopeds opened fire on a patrol vehicle Thursday without hurting anyone.

Yesterday's statement said the army's intelligence directorate had followed up on the attack and arrested six Lebanese suspects.

The army said it would not tolerate attacks on UNIFIL, which it said carries out an important stabilising role south of the Litani river, near the Israeli border.

UNIFIL peacekeepers have been tasked with acting as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since March 1978, and with monitoring the November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.