UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council expressed deep concern on Wednesday at the recent outbreak of violence in Lebanon which killed over 60 people and injured many others.

    In a statement read out by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the council's president for May, the 15-member council "condemned in the strongest possible terms the attacks by the so-called 'Fatah al Islam' gunmen on Lebanese security and armed forces in Northern Lebanon."

    Such attacks, the statement said, "constitute an unacceptable attack on Lebanon's stability, security and sovereignty."

    It also stressed the need to protect and provide aid to civilians, "notably the Palestinian refugees."

    Council members also condemned the latest bomb attacks in Beirut which killed one and injured several others, offering sympathy and condolences to the victims' families and to the Lebanese people and the government.

    Urging "no impunity for such heinous acts," they welcomed the "determination" of the government to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks.

    In the statement, council members also reiterated their "unequivocal condemnation" of any attempt to destabilize Lebanon and underlined their readiness to continue to act in support of the legitimate and democratically elected government.

    They called on all Lebanese to continue to maintain national unity in the face of attempts to undermine the country's stability.