Lebanon vows firm response after explosives seized

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday vowed that authorities would deal firmly with all illegal weapons, days after security forces seized a truck carrying explosives suspected of belonging to Hezbollah.

A judicial official had told AFP that authorities on Thursday detained two suspected members of the Iran-backed group at a security checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar, near a road linking Lebanon with Syria, as they headed to Beirut.

They were allegedly transporting half a tonne of explosives — 250 kilogrammes (551 pounds) of TNT and 250 kilogrammes of C4, the official said.

Salam on X confirmed that “it has become known that a few days ago a truck was stopped” in Dahr al-Baidar “carrying hundreds of kilogrammes of explosive materials” including C4.

“We will not be lenient in following up and expanding the investigation in order to identify all those involved in this criminal operation, and those behind them,” he said.

“We will deal with weapons outside the legal framework will the required firmness,” he added, whether regarding their possession, transportation or use.

Salam also said that he understood “Lebanese worries” over the C4, particularly as it “has been used in a number of political assassinations” in Lebanon’s history.

Hezbollah until recently was the most influential political and military force in Lebanon, enjoying key support from Iran and longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The group has been accused of carrying out assassinations of political figures who opposed Damascus, particularly between 2005 and 2008.

A UN-backed court in 2020 sentenced a fugitive Hezbollah member for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri, with the court subsequently sentencing two more Hezbollah members in absentia.

Lebanese authorities last year committed to disarming Hezbollah, after hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in 2023 and culminated in all-out war the following year, decimating the group’s leadership.

The 2024 toppling of Assad also severed the group’s key weapons supply line from Iran, and Syria’s new authorities regularly say they have seized weapons headed for Lebanon.

However, Hezbollah this year drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

The cash-strapped Lebanese army faces enormous challenges in carrying out its mission of disarming Hezbollah and deploying in south Lebanon, including under an Israel-Lebanon framework reached in June this year.

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