Two Italian warships are travelling to offshore Lebanon in a bid to protect the Italian soldiers taking part in the UN peacekeeping mission in the south of the country, an Italian news agency reported Thursday.
There are currently 1,100 Italian soliders in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Agence France Presse reported.
The Italian ANSA news agency reported that a frigate and a torpedo destroyer boat departed from Italy's southeastern coast on Wednesday and were headed to offshore Lebanon to beef up protection of the soldiers in case of a deterioration of the conflict in Syria.
Calls to the Italian defence ministry by news agency Associated Press were not immediately answered, AFP reported.
