The Unifil Fijian battalion headquarters still retains the scars of the Zionist artillery bombardment two years ago. Nearly every building is pockmarked with shrapnel, and one was damaged so badly that the UN constructed a new base for the peacekeepers on a hill outside Qana.

The Fijians are due to begin relocating to the new headquarters next week. Only two Fijians currently serving with the battalion were present during the massacre.

Maj Mitieli Viniasi was the medical officer for the battalion and as such was forced to deal first-hand with the carnage after the shelling ended.

He said, “I had just finished a late lunch and was in my room when I heard rockets being fired. There was an immediate shell warning and I put on my flak jacket. I had just reached my office when the shelling started. At first it was outside the camp, but there was shrapnel flying through the air inside the base. Eleven of us ran to a bomb shelter. Six of us made it. It was full of civilians so we crouched by the entrance.”

After the shelling stopped, Viniasi had to put to one side his shock and horror to begin dealing with the casualties.

He said, “It was a terrible sight. I informed the CO, Col Wame Waqanivavalugi, of our situation. The soldiers were bringing the severely injured to me. There were people missing arms and legs with their intestines spilling onto the ground. There were 20 to 30 badly injured civilians for me to deal with straight away. After 14 years of medical practice I had never seen anything like it. It was very hard to cope but my team did an excellent job considering the situation we were in.”

Viniasi was speaking beside the site of the conference room, one of two buildings crammed with civilians which took direct hits. The conference room burned to the ground and has since, ironically, been transformed into a sturdy underground bomb shelter.
This is Viniasi’s third tour of duty in Lebanon, a country he and his colleagues consider their second home.

“The relations between us and the people of Qana are very good. The massacre has brought us all closer and even though our home is many thousands of miles away on the other side of the world, Lebanon is our second home,” he said.

But like the buildings of the battalion headquarters, Viniasi also still carries the scars of his experience.

“I don’t want to think about what happened any more. Even when I went home I tried to forget about it and I still am. No pictures, no videotapes, nothing. I want to leave it all behind me.”