Lebanon’s PM vows thorough investigation after explosives-laden truck seized at checkpoint

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon will carry out a thorough investigation to track down the suspected members of the militant Hezbollah group believed to be linked to an explosives-laden truck intercepted at the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint last week, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday.

Salam has described the incident as a “criminal operation” and has praised security forces for capturing the truck on the main highway linking Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos said two people detained in the truck have been referred to judicial authorities and that security agencies will go after other people involved in the case.

The truck was carrying 780 kilograms (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of TNT and 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of C4 plastic explosives, judicial officials told The Associated Press.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the two people who were detained have said they were only told to take the material from the northeastern region of Baalbek to Beirut without being told what it would be used for. They were supposed to hand it over to a man south of Beirut whom they identified by his nom de guerre, Zulfiqar, the officials said.

Hezbollah has declined comment.

The Lebanese army said on Monday that troops seized another shipment of explosives weighing 200 kilograms (440 pounds) as it was being smuggled from Syria into the northeastern Lebanese border town of al-Qasr.

The explosives were packed in bags, the army said in a statement. The smugglers fled back into Syria after being discovered.

For years, Hezbollah has moved weapons freely in parts of Lebanon. That changed in March, when the Lebanese government declared all military activities by the Iran-backed group “illegal.” That decision came hours after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, triggering a three-month war that killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon. The group fired the rockets two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran, its main backer.

Morcos quoted Salam as saying he understood people’s concerns about the shipment, noting that C-4 explosives had been used in several “infamous political assassinations in Lebanon’s modern history.”

It was unclear whether Hezbollah planned to use the explosives and pebbles in the fiber-optic drones it has been deploying against Israeli troops occupying parts of southern Lebanon.

Salam said during the meeting that Lebanese people should be confident the government would not hesitate to pursue and broaden the investigation to identify “all those involved in this criminal operation and those behind them.”

“Our government will not tolerate anyone who dares to tamper with the country’s security, safety, and stability,” Salam said, according to Morcos. He added that the government would take firm action against the possession, transport or use of weapons outside state control.