UN Extends Lebanon Mission

French UN peacekeeping soldiers walk behind Red Cross trucks at the Lebanese-Israeli border in 2008.

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the UN Mission in Lebanon for a further 12 months.

The vote came after a request by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Lebanese foreign minister to do so.

The resolution condemned a December 2011 terrorist attack that wounded five peacekeepers, and called on all parties in Lebanon to make "tangible progress towards a permanent cease-fire."

The United Nations has maintained a peacekeeping force in Lebanon since 1978 after the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon, when it was originally installed to confirm Israeli withdrawal from the country.

The peacekeeping force has remained in the country due to continuing hostilities along the Lebanese and Israeli border, known as the "Blue Line."