Hezbollah claims confiscated explosives and denies assassination plans

BEIRUT (AP) — A Hezbollah official acknowledged Thursday that a truck full of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities last week belonged to the militant group and said the explosives were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

The truck, which was stopped at a checkpoint on the main highway linking Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley, was carrying 780 kilograms (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of TNT and 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.

Two men were arrested when the truck was stopped, and Lebanese authorities launched an investigation. They said that security agencies will go after other people involved in the shipment.

The news of its seizure had generated heated public discussions, with many accusing Hezbollah of planning to carry out assassinations of domestic opponents at a time when the group is under increasing pressure to disarm.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam noted that C-4 explosives had been used in several “infamous political assassinations in Lebanon’s modern history.”

Hassan Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, in a statement Thursday acknowledged that the truck was transporting materials for the group. He said the explosives were “intended exclusively for use against the Israeli occupation” in southern Lebanon and called the allegations that they were part of an assassination plot “baseless.”

“It is well known that (Hezbollah’s) weapons include explosive devices — a subject the enemy has frequently addressed and whose impact it deeply fears,” the statement said. It was the group’s first comment on the captured explosives.

Fadlallah said Hezbollah had requested Lebanese authorities to hand the shipment over to them and release the two people who were detained.

The incident has highlighted growing tensions between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.

For years, Hezbollah had 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 war that has killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and resulted in Israeli forces occupying a large swath of southern Lebanon. The group fired the rockets two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran, its main backer.

Hezbollah has refused to recognize the government decision outlawing its military wing, and Fadlallah’s statement described it as “null and void.”