BEIRUT: Reverberations from last week’s attack on the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon have spread to the rest of the country, with people concerned the assault may not be the last, and could be just a preview of what is to come. “I

am sure that we will have more problems like this if we don’t have a government very soon,” said Hisham Haidar, a Beirut valet, originally from Baalbek. “Without a government there is no security and there are no safe places for anyone.”

The roadside bomb, which struck a UNIFIL convoy on the southern highway near Rmeileh Friday, wounded six Italian peacekeepers, one of them critically. Two Lebanese civilians were also wounded.

“I was surprised to see what happened but now I am worried we will see more attacks, [in part] because we don’t have a government,” said Serene Makari, from central Beirut.

No faction has claimed responsibility for the attack, the gravest such act against UNIFIL troops since 2007, when six Spanish were killed in a bomb explosion near the Blue Line.

“The situation in Lebanon and the south is not stable because of what is going on around us,” said Imad from the southern resort town of Jezzine who did not want to give his last name. “Lebanon now is open from the security side and there is a security vacuum.

“It’s normal that the attack could have happened and it would not surprise me if we saw more attacks,” he added.

The incident has been greeted with widespread condemnation from most political parties and Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has backed a U.N. investigation into the blast, while reiterating Lebanon’s commitment to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which expanded UNIFIL’s mandate and ended the 2006 summer war with Israel.

“For me the situation has to be understood as a whole, no just by what happened to the U.N.,” said Ali, from a southern border village with Israel who also did declined to give his last name.

“We’ve heard about the kidnapping [of the seven Estonian tourists], the recent killings at the border with Israel [when pro-Palestinian groups marched to commemorate Israel’s founding] and then we get the UNIFIL crime and the problems in the Telecommunications [Ministry,]” he said.

“Someone is trying to make troubles for Lebanon, but it is not just specifically UNIFIL.”

Opinions concerning the 12,000-strong force U.N. peacekeeping presence, comprised of a mix of European and international personnel, remain very much divided.

“As long as UNIFIL are here these attacks will continue,” said Assil Hisham from Nabatieh.

“They have not done anything good and have contributed nothing for the people of the south.

“I want them to leave because their presence is the same as their absence. They cannot do anything and if Israel wants to come in they can do so whenever they want,” she added.

The Italian peacekeeping contingent, currently the largest in the U.N. force, will now be reduced from over 1,700 to around 1,100, the Italian authorities said Sunday.

UNIFIL, however, publicly announced that it would not scale back its presence, promising that the gradual withdrawal would be compensated for by the arrival of other international troops.

“Nothing can be ruled out at the moment so I can’t help but think, poor them, maybe they should leave for their own sake before any more harm comes to them,” said Gemmayzeh shopkeeper Mona Bou Dagher.

Over 250 UNIFIL personnel have been killed since the force first deploying to southern Lebanon in 1978.

“They have come to our country to help us and they have become part of this country, just like so many of our family members, who live abroad, have become part of their countries,” said Saeed Janoun, a taxi driver from Iqlim al-Kharoub. “We have a duty to keep them safe.

“UNIFIL have been a very positive presence and have made a lot of effort in the development of the south.”