The Lebanese army raids a weapons store in a Hezbollah stronghold

Yesterday, the Lebanese army raided a weapons store in the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, in a move remarkable in content and timing.

Although the weapons seized by the army do not belong to the party, their acquisition without coordination with it carries several implications.

An army statement said that the Army Intelligence Directorate raided a weapons and ammunition warehouse in the Mushrifiyah area in the southern suburb of Beirut, and arrested a person on the grounds of monitoring arms transfers and trafficking without attributing him to any party.

On the other hand, investigations into the killing of former Iraqi MP Ahmed Al-Alwani in Beirut took a new path, after the discriminatory Public Prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, ordered his body to be handed over to the Iraqi embassy for transport to Baghdad, in response to his family’s request. The decision came without an autopsy in Lebanon, despite x-rays showing fluids in the lower abdomen and pelvis, and the judiciary requested that they be examined to determine their nature.

A settlement led to the entry of an Iraqi government investigation team, headed by the Popular Mobilization Forces, into Jurf al-Sakhar yesterday. A stronghold of pro-Iranian factions south of Baghdad.

The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces formed an investigation team from security institutions, headed by an officer in the PMF, to investigate leaked information about the smuggling of oil derivatives from the region, which is difficult to enter without the approval of factions, most notably the Hezbollah Brigades, according to sources. Military units moved towards the vicinity of Al-Jarf, with the aim of securing the entry of investigators and conducting field examinations, before “mediation” led to the suspension of the military movement, amid a dispute over the committee’s entry mechanism and the body supervising its work.

However, the head of security media, Saad Maan, confirmed yesterday (Friday) that no political parties or factions are participating in the investigation, indicating that the committee is present in the field and carrying out its investigative work.

On Friday, the Iraqi Security Media Cell announced the killing of three “terrorists” and the arrest of a fourth in a security operation in Kirkuk (250 km north of Baghdad).

The Security Media Cell said in a press statement: “Our security forces in the Kirkuk Operations Command were able, this evening (Friday), to carry out a qualitative duty and a precise air strike in the Alton Kubri area (northwest of Kirkuk Governorate) by army aviation within the sector of responsibility of the 32nd Infantry Brigade of the 8th Mechanized Division.”

She added, "This operation resulted in the killing of three terrorists, and the terrorist carrying them was arrested," stressing that the security forces are currently continuing searches and careful inspections in the area, according to what was reported by the German News Agency.

She indicated that this comes in implementation of the directives of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a continuation of proactive qualitative operations and an effort by the Directorate of Military Intelligence to pursue the remnants of “terrorist” gangs and dry up their sources.