Lebanon is confronting Hezbollah's explosives that it transports from Syria to Lebanon or inside Lebanon. The authorities seized a huge shipment of half a ton of explosives at the Dahr al-Baydar checkpoint in the east of the country, the day after announcing the thwarting of the smuggling of another shipment from Syria.
A security source explained to Asharq Al-Awsat, “When searching a car in which two people were traveling on Thursday evening, 250 kilograms of TNT and another 250 of highly explosive C4 were found, in addition to a quantity of small iron balls and nails.”
The two detainees admitted to belonging to Hezbollah, and that the explosives belonged to the party, according to a judicial source, pointing out that they reported that one of the party’s officials in the Bekaa handed them the shipment and instructed them to transport it to the southern suburb. The investigation includes identifying the sender and recipient, investigating the activity of others involved, and determining the purpose of sending it to Beirut.
Lebanon is being strict in pursuing Hezbollah weapons and ammunition that it smuggles from Syria to Lebanon, the latest of which was a shipment of explosives that was seized on the border on Friday, and another that was seized at a security checkpoint in the Dahr al-Baydar area, eastern Lebanon, and the judicial and security services in Lebanon are intensifying their investigations to find out the identity of those involved.
The dangerous nature of the shipment was not limited to the fact that it contained half a ton of highly explosive materials, but it also included iron balls and nails usually used in manufacturing explosive devices. Minister of Justice Adel Nassar confirmed in a statement that disarming illegal weapons, combating terrorism, and pursuing all outlaws is an irreversible path that will accelerate. He asserted that the investigation related to the seized explosives, and everything related to it, will be completed until the end.
Other shipments
A security source explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the operation was carried out on Thursday evening, when members of the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint of the Internal Security Forces suspected a Dodge van that was heading from the Bekaa towards the capital, Beirut. He pointed out that “when searching the car in which two people were traveling, Ali K. and Haitham A., it resulted in the seizure of 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of highly explosive C4, in addition to a quantity of small iron balls and nails.”
Although the two aforementioned detainees admitted that they belong to Hezbollah, and that they were assigned by the organization to transport these explosives from the Baalbek area to the southern suburbs, they refrain from mentioning the real names of the officials who assigned them this task. The security source reported that the two officers “reserved initially about revealing the source of the explosives, and limited themselves to pointing out that a person had assigned them to transport them from Baalbek to the southern suburb of Beirut, according to a mechanism known as (dead mail), which is based on delivering the materials to a specific point without direct contact between their carrier and the party that will receive them.”
From “Sajid” to “Zulfiqar”
However, preliminary investigations, carried out by the Military Police in the Lebanese Army under the supervision of the Government Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Claude Ghanem, revealed additional information regarding the source of the shipment and the party that was awaiting its arrival. An informed judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two detainees “later confessed to their affiliation with Hezbollah, and that the explosives belonged to the party, and they reported that one of the party’s officials in the Bekaa region, known as (Sajid), handed them the shipment and instructed them to transport it to the southern suburb, to deliver it to a person called (Zulfiqar), who is believed to also hold responsibility within the party.”
The judicial source pointed out that investigators “are working to determine the true identity of the two aforementioned individuals, verify the nature of their role, and confirm whether other people participated in preparing or transporting the shipment, as well as determining the purpose of bringing this large quantity of explosives into Beirut.” He added that the government commissioner to the military court, Judge Ghanem, “received on Saturday the reports of the preliminary investigations and reviewed their contents, but he decided to return them to the military police, and requested the expansion of the interrogation of the detainees and the completion of scrutiny of the information they provided.” The judicial source confirmed that the investigation “is still in the stage of collecting evidence and verifying statements, and that there is data that needs to be confirmed before concluding the preliminary investigation and determining criminal responsibilities, in preparation for prosecuting those involved and referring them to the military judiciary.”
Two shipments of explosives
Since the beginning of the year, the Lebanese army has thwarted two attempts to smuggle explosives from Syrian territory into Lebanon. At the beginning of this October, the Lebanese army announced the seizure of about 245 kilograms of highly explosive TNT, in addition to 4 explosive devices, 8 explosive detonators, and electrical wires that were smuggled from Syria.
Last Friday, an army unit in the Qasr-Hermel area (northeastern Lebanon) thwarted another smuggling operation from Syria to Lebanon, and seized a quantity of rocket-propelled grenades and about 24 additional kilograms of highly explosive TNT.
