Army seizes 200 kilograms of explosives near Lebanese-Syrian border, smuggled into Lebanon on muleback

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army announced Monday that it had seized about 200 kilograms of explosive materials near the border between Lebanon and Syria, in northern Bekaa, hidden in bags loaded onto mules and smuggled clandestinely into Lebanon, according to a security source cited by our correspondent.

According to an army statement, the unit in charge of border surveillance seized "in the Qasr-Hermel sector about 200 kilograms of explosive materials, packed in bags and intended to be smuggled from Syrian territory into Lebanese territory." "The smugglers fled toward Syrian territory," the force said, specifying that the explosives had been "handed over to the competent authorities" and that "coordination with the relevant parties is ongoing to apprehend those involved."

Suspects in Dahr al-Baidar case summoned again

According to a security source contacted by our correspondent in the Bekaa, the explosives were hidden in bags carried on mules, an old technique used by cross-border smuggling networks between Lebanon and Syria. These animals make it possible to use mountain paths that are difficult for vehicles to access, particularly in northern Bekaa, Akkar and the Mount Hermon range.

According to the previously cited source, this seizure is unrelated to the seizure of several hundred kilograms of explosives, including TNT and C4, discovered on Monday, Oct. 5, in a vehicle traveling from the Bekaa toward Beirut, at Dahr al-Baidar. A judicial source also indicated that the two suspects arrested in the case, who are linked to Hezbollah, would be summoned again by the judiciary for questioning.

The new seizure comes three days after an Israeli strike on Friday targeted a vehicle in Hosh al-Sayyed Ali, another locality in the Hermel district near the Syrian border.

The drone strike injured six people, including five Syrian nationals and one Lebanese, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The Israeli army, for its part, said it had targeted a Syrian citizen, Youssef Ali al-Hassoun, whom it accused of “preparing attacks against Israeli forces deployed in southern Syria under Iran’s direction.”