Eurasia Press & News
BEKAA: The Lebanese Army confiscated a truckload of weapons belonging to Hizbullah in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, security sources said Wednesday. The truck, which was seized late Tuesday at a random army checkpoint at Douriss, near Baalbek, contained rockets, machine guns, assault rifles and ammunition for the weapons.
Six Hizbullah members in the truck were let go, but the weapons were taken to a nearby army barracks.
It was not clear whether the Hizbullah members were transferring the weapons within the country or bringing the shipment in from Syria. The truck’s destination was also unknown.
But An-Nahar newspaper claimed on Wednesday that the arms cache was planned for use in conflicts to be sparked in other Palestinian refugee camps after attempts failed to start a second front at the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Sidon.
When contacted by The Daily Star, a Hizbullah spokesman refused to comment on the issue.
The truck was accompanied by several civilian vehicles, and the army troops moved iron obstacles onto the road to make the truck stop, according to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC).
LBC quoted an eyewitness who said “those in the truck were arguing with the army while the latter was trying to halt their vehicle.”
Under a UN Security Council resolution that halted last summer’s war with Israel, any transfer of weapons to groups other than the Lebanese Army is illegal.
Despite the ban, Hizbullah officials have said they have replenished their stocks of rockets after the fighting.
In February, Lebanese authorities seized a truck bringing military supplies for Hizbullah in the Beirut suburb of Hazmieh. The resistance acknowledged that the shipment was theirs and demanded it be returned, but the government refused.
