A French peacekeeper deployed with the U.N. force in Lebanon was killed in an explosion of ordinance left over from last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah in the country's south.

In Paris, French Defense Minister Herve Morin praised the soldier's "sacrifice for a noble cause, restoring peace in a country that has suffered from years of war." The victim was 39 years old, according to the French defense ministry.

The incident occurred as a demining team from the U.N. peacekeeping force was clearing unexploded shells in a valley south of the village of Shama, near the town of Naqoura and close to the Lebanese border with Israel.

The peacekeeper died when the leftover ordnance exploded, said Yasmina Bouziane, a spokeswoman for the U.N. force, known as UNIFIL.