Shipment of Grad rockets 'en route to Lebanon' seized by Syrian authorities

Syrian General Security branch in Homs announced it had seized a shipment of Grad rockets that was on its way to Lebanon, the organization announced on its Facebook account, without giving more details about the origin of the shipment and its recipient.

Russian BM-21 Grad is a multiple rocket launcher, which is one of the most widely used weapon systems in the world.

Before the fall of the Assad regime, Syria was one of the arms supply routes for Hezbollah, coming from Iran. This supply was severely disrupted by the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who was an ally of Hezbollah. The Hezbollah leader, Naim Kassem, acknowledged in mid-December, after the takeover of Islamist rebels in Damascus, that the developments in Syria had cut off the routes of transfers for the party-militia, though he stated that "alternatives" could be found.

The border between Lebanon and Syria remains porous, particularly because it is not demarcated along its entire length, and despite enhanced deployment of the Lebanese Army in the area to curb smuggling.