BEIRUT, JULY 26 (AP/UNB) - Lebanon is sending about 3,000 additional troops to the country’s south after residents clashed with U.N. peacekeepers in the tense region where many view the international force with mistrust, officials said Monday.

The U.N. deployed 12,000 forces along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel in 2006 with the aim of helping some 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority into the area for the first time in decades and create a buffer zone free of fighters for the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Israel and the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah fought a war in 2006 and tensions between them are now on the rise again, especially in the south which is heavily influenced by the Shiite militants. Many
residents there view the U.N. peacekeepers with suspicion or allege they spy for Israel.

Tensions have heightened over recent reports that Syria has sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons.

Three weeks ago, the U.N. Security Council called on Lebanon to deploy more troops to the tense area. There have been skirmishes between residents of the south and the peacekeepers in the past. But the confrontations have been more serious in recent weeks, with residents throwing stones and blocking roads. Injuries have been reported on both sides.

Many of the recent skirmishes have targeted French peacekeepers. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri told the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Denis Pietton, on Monday that he was sending an additional brigade of Lebanese troops to the south.

A senior Lebanese military official confirmed the troop movement but refused to release details, citing military security.

UNIFIL officials had no immediate comment.