Two French soldiers serving with the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon were seriously injured on Sunday when their bulldozer rolled over, a spokesman for the UN force said.

Milos Strugar said French troops were doing engineering and construction work when their bulldozer overturned at the French headquarters in the village of Bourj Qalawi near the southern port city of Tyre.

Two soldiers were seriously injured and flown by a UN helicopter to hospital in the southern port city of Sidon for treatment, Strugar said.

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There are about 1,500 French soldiers serving with the reinforced U.N. peacekeeping force, which now numbers about 10,000 troops, that began arriving in Lebanon after a UN-brokered cease-fire resolution ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war on Aug. 14.

Some 16,000 Lebanese troops have deployed in southern Lebanon alongside the UN force to monitor the truce and prevent hostilities from breaking out again between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.