U.N. peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol the Lebanese-Israeli border, beside Kfar Kila village in south Lebanon Jan. 19, 2015.

A U.N. peacekeeper from Spain was killed Wednesday in southern Lebanon, a source at the Spanish embassy said, as the Israeli military shelled border areas after a Hezbollah attack.

“I can confirm that a Spanish soldier was killed in southern Lebanon,” the source at the embassy in Beirut told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesman Andrea Tenenti said the peacekeepers’ commander, Major General Luciano Portolano, was “in close contact with all the parties, urging maximum restraint to prevent an escalation.’

UNIFIL has been deployed in south Lebanon since 1978.

Its ranks were reinforced after the 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah that killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

The 10,000-strong peacekeeping force, including nearly 600 Spanish soldiers, is composed of troops from a total of 36 countries.

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