Hezbullah's drone airstrip in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley
Jane's Defence News reports that Hezbullah has constructed an
airstrip for drones in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Located in a remote and sparsely populated area 10 km south of the
town of Hermel and 18 km west of the Syrian border, the airstrip was
built sometime between 27 February 2013 and 19 June 2014, according to
imagery that recently became publicly available on Google Earth.
It consists of a single unpaved strip with a length of 670 m and
width of 20 m. Material has been excavated from a nearby quarry to build
up the northern end of the strip so that it is level. It is built over a
shorter strip that had been in existence since at least 2010.
The short length of the runway suggests the facility is not intended
to smuggle in weapons shipments from Syria or Iran as it is too short
for nearly all the transport aircraft used by the air forces of those
countries. One exception could be the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps' (IRGC's) An-74T-200 short take-off transports, but landing one
with a useful load on a 670 m strip in the mountains would be considered
dangerous by most operators.
An alternative explanation is that the runway was built for
Iranian-made UAVs, including the Ababil-3, which has been employed over
Syria by forces allied to the Syrian regime, and possibly the newer and
larger Shahed-129.
Hizbullah sources have confirmed to IHS Jane's that the
organisation is using UAVs to support operations against rebel forces in
Syria, particularly over the mountainous Qalamoun region on Lebanon's
eastern border.
...
Hizbullah has operated UAVs from Lebanese airspace since at least
November 2004, when it dispatched one that it identified as a Mirsad-1
for a brief reconnaissance mission over northern Israel. It then flew
attempted to fly at least three UAVs into Israel during the July-August
2006 war.
Hizbullah said it was responsible for the UAV that was shot down over
southern Israel on 6 October 2012. It said it used an Iranian-made
aircraft that it had designated as the Ayoub for the incursion.
...
The Saudi Al-Watan newspaper claimed in March 2014 that Hizbullah
had built a "military airport" for its UAVs in the Bekaa Valley.
Lebanese media reports erroneously claimed the location was at Iaat in
the central Bekaa Valley, apparently mistaking a long-abandoned Second
World War-era Royal Air Force airfield for the Hizbullah facility.
What could go wrong?
Shabbat Shalom everyone.
Labels: Bekaa Valley, Hezbullah, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Syria
How convenient: Hezbullah denies Israeli attack
Hezbullah is denying that Israel
attacked one of its weapons facilities in the Bekaa Valley on Monday night, while Israel's Prime Minister is following the country's usual practice of
not commenting. How convenient.
Asked during a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel
whether IAF jets were behind the strike, Netanyahu stated, "Our policy
is clear - we will not speak about reports of what we did or didn't do
- but we do all that is necessary in order to defend our citizens."
Hezbollah
denied the airstrike on their television network al-Manar. They said
there had been "no raid on Lebanese territory," reporting only the
"strong presence of enemy planes over the area north of Bekaa" in
eastern Lebanon.
Thus far, the Israeli army has refused to comment on the reports.
Netanyahu
has said repeatedly that Israel would not allow the Syrian regime to
transfer chemical weapons or "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah in
Lebanon.
Gee, ya think the IAF hit another weapons facility? Maybe the
Obama administration will
tell us.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Bashar al-Assad, Bekaa Valley, Hezbullah, Hezbullah weapons, IAF, Syria
Report: IAF jets attack Hezbullah site on Lebanon-Syria border
Lebanese sources are reporting that
IAF jets have attacked a Hezbullah target on the Lebanese-Syrian border. As of Israel Radio's midnight report, neither the IAF or Hezbullah's al-Manar network had confirmed the report.
The airstrikes killed a number of Hezbollah members, the sources said.
...
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli
warplanes launched two raids targeting al-Nabi Shayth, a village located
in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley near the Syria-Lebanon borders.
NNA
added that there were also “intensive Israeli flights at very low
altitude over the eastern and western mountains chains of Lebanon.”
The
independent Lebanese news channel MTV described the airstrikes as “mock
raids” over Brital, Hor Ti’la, al-Nabi Shayth, al-Khidhar, and Ali
al-Nahri; villages located in the bordering Bekaa valley.
...
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France-Presse the target was a Hezbollah “missile base.”
Al
Arabiya’s correspondent citing unconfirmed reports said Hezbollah’s
moving convoy was targeted because it tried to bring ballistic missiles
from Syria to Lebanon.
I would bet on this report being true.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Bekaa Valley, Hezbullah, Hezbullah weapons, IAF, Syria
It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys - what goes around comes around
A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into two vans carrying Hezbullah terrorists in the Bekaa Valley on Tuesday morning. Chaos ensued.
Let's go to the videotape from Hezbullah's
al-Manar television.
Beirut's Daily Star Newspaper
has more:
An explosives-laden vehicle exploded in east Lebanon early Tuesday killing its driver and wounding two members from Hezbollah, security sources told The Daily Star.
The sources said Hezbollah
fighters in a van were attempting to intercept the vehicle when it
exploded in Sbouba, where the group maintains a military camp. There was
an exchange of gunfire, they said.
The explosives-laden vehicle
was likely detonated remotely as their pursuers approached, the sources
said. They earlier said the vehicle may have been occupied by a suicide
bomber.
TV footage showed at least four vehicles, some in flames, and debris strewn across the road.
In
a brief statement, the Lebanese Army said that a Grand Cherokee blew up
on the road to Sbouba, northwest of Baalbek, at 2:50 a.m., damaging a
number of vehicles. The military has launched a probe.
Boo. Hoo. Hope they all die soon.
Labels: Bekaa Valley, Hezbullah, Lebanon, suicide bombing
Report: IAF destroys Syrian weapons shipment to Hezbullah
If this is true, it's big. The Kuwaiti newspaper
aj-Jarida is reporting that the
IAF destroyed a weapons shipment from Syria to the Hezbullah terror organization on Tuesday.
The paper’s story, which quotes a senior Israeli official, has not been
confirmed by any other news source. There was also no word on whether
the attack took place on Lebanese or Syrian soil.
...
The Kuwaiti daily also reported last Friday that Israel has
information on the location of long-range missiles transferred from
Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon and is considering taking military action
to destroy the weapons.
The paper, quoting an Israeli security
source close to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, reported that the
remote-operated missiles, with a range of 1,500 kilometers, were made in
China and further developed in Iran.
According to the source, the missiles are being stored by Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the veracity of the report.
And why would an 'Israeli official' speak only to a Kuwaiti daily? Just askin'.....
Labels: Bekaa Valley, Hezbullah, IAF, Syria, weapons shipment
Reports: Israel attacked another weapons convoy headed for Hezbullah
Reports in Arab media, including in media affiliated with the Syrian rebels, claim that
Israel attacked another weapons convoy headed for Hezbullah from Syria on Saturday.
Arab media outlets and
websites affiliated with Syrian opposition forces reported on Saturday
that Israeli fighter jets seen flying over Quneitra bombed a weapons
convoy intended to reach Hezbollah.
It was also reported by Lebanese news outlet
El-Nashra that Israeli jets bombed weapons warehouses at Syrian army
outposts in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.
A Syrian rebel group's Facebook page claimed that the weapons convoy carried warheads for long-range missiles.
Heh.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Bekaa Valley, Free Syrian Army, Hezbullah, Lebanon, Nusra Front, strategic weapons, Syria, Syrian army, weapons smuggling
Obama acts on Syria: Too little, too late?
After the outraged reaction to President Obama's admission that the Assad regime has been using chemical weapons and that he still hadn't decided what to do about it, President Obama quickly backtracked on Thursday night and decided that he would help the Syrian rebels. But how will he help them? And is it too little too late?
Obama is proposing to provide the rebels with weapons (and there is talk about a no-fly zone, but so far that has not happened). The rebels are asking for
heavy weapons.
The United States has said it would be “responsive to the needs” of the increasingly desperate rebels, but has not given details of what assistance will include.
Initial consignments are expected to consist of small arms and
ammunition, which the rebel Free Syrian Army said on Friday would be
largely “meaningless”.
...
U.S. officials are expected to meet with Gen. Salim Idriss,
head of the rebel Supreme Military Council, over the next two days to
discuss details of military assistance that Washington can provide.
Rebel leaders said Idriss will urge the U.S. interlocutors to offer up a
wide range of support.
“We welcome the decision, but it is a
late step. And if they send small arms, how can small arms make a
difference?” said Louay al-Mokdad, political and media coordinator for
the Free Syria Army. “They should help us with real weapons, antitank
and antiaircraft, and with armored vehicles, training and a no-fly
zone.”
The White House has said it has not made any decision to
pursue a no-fly zone, which would involve targeted airstrikes in order
to remove air defenses, and could raise concerns of a mission creep.
Charles Lister, an analyst at IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency
Center, said that while a no-fly zone near the Jordanian border might be
a “feasible eventuality” given the strong presence of moderate rebel
groups in the area, sending anti-aircraft weapons to the rebels “still
appears unlikely”.
Mokdad said it is essential that the United States “move fast” if it wants to have an impact on the trajectory of the 25-month-old conflict, which according to a new United Nations report so far has resulted in nearly 93,000 confirmed deaths.
But are weapons going to help at this point? Let's call it
doubtful.
Now that the moment for American action has come, it is very late in the
day. The war in Syria is not just a humanitarian catastrophe—the U.N.
said on Thursday that the death toll had reached ninety-three thousand.
Worse, the Assad régime appears, after months of stalemate, to have
gained the upper hand. This is almost certainly due to a large-scale
intervention by Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, which has sent as
many as two thousand fighters into Syria to save Assad. Hezbollah
fighters were decisive in the pro-Assad force’s recent recapture of the
city of Qusayr, which, in turn, is central to Hezbollah’s existence.
Qusayr sits on the main road leading into Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley,
Hezbollah’s stronghold, and serves as the main conduit for Iranian arms
and missiles that have made Hezbollah the formidable armed group that it
is. Hezbollah’s intervention has been accompanied by a massive,
ceaseless airlift from the Iranian government, which regards Assad as
its closest friend in the Arab world.
Just look at the map: Syria and Lebanon form part of the so-called
“Shiite axis’’ that the Iranian régime has helped build and sustain over
many years. Iran is majority Shiite, Hezbollah is almost entirely
Shiite, and the Assad régime is dominated by Alawites, a Shiite sect
that fears a genocide if they are defeated. Iran doesn’t want to lose
that axis—not with the West breathing down its neck about its nuclear
ambitions. And at every step, Assad has had the assistance of the
Russian government of Vladimir Putin, who has been prepared to veto any
attempt by the U.N. Security Council to approve an armed intervention.
What happens now? A lot depends on the details—on exactly what the White
House proposes to do. The President can choose from a range of options,
none of which would include putting American troops on the ground: a
no-fly zone; air and missile strikes against Assad’s runways and
airplanes; arms for the rebels. It appears that Obama has decided to
take at least the modest step of sending small arms and ammunition to
the rebels. For more than two years, the President has concluded that
staying out of Syria is the best course. He appears to be changing his
mind. The question now may be whether it’s too late.
Small arms aren't going to change this war. Heavy arms may not either. A no-fly zone sounds like it needs to be on the Lebanese border to the Bekaa to be effective - and no one is now talking about doing that. Has Obama missed the boat? It wouldn't be the first time.
Shabbat Shalom everyone.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Bashar al-Assad, Bekaa Valley, Free Syrian Army, Hezbullah, Lebanon, Nusra Front, Russia, Syria, Syria no-fly zone, Syrian uprising, Vladimir Putin
Huge Hezbullah 'work accident'
Three explosions at a Hezbullah weapons depot in Nabi Sheet, 30 kilometers south of Baalbek in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, have left
nine people dead and at least seven injured. Hezbullah has sealed off access to the town from the media.
AFP sources confirmed that 9 people have
so far been reported dead in Nabi Sheet, Baalbeck after three blasts were heard in a
mountainous area between "Nabi Sheet" and "El-Khraybeh" villages in the
eastern mountain series in Bekaa. This as
Hezbollah announced that 3 died and several
were injured in the weapons cache explosion in Baalbeck.
According to sources the explosions occurred inside weapons caches
resulting in several injuries. Initially the cause of the explosions
near the city of Baalbek was not immediately
clear, but an official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the
nature of the blasts suggests there
were explosives or weapons stored inside the building.
Security members cordoned off the area and prohibited people from coming
close to it,blocking access to journalists, the report mentioned.
It was later reported that the home of
Mohammad Ali Reda Moussawi was completely destroyed as a result of the
explosion, with several surrounding buildings also sustaining damage. This as
ambulances transferred the wounded (nearly 7) to nearby hospitals
Baalbek is located in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
If you're dumb enough to let someone store weapons in your home, sometimes your home is going to get destroyed. And I doubt there's any insurance coverage....
A JPost report, apparently based on earlier sources, is
here.
Labels: Bekaa Valley, explosions, Hezbullah, Hezbullah weapons, Lebanon, work accident
Whose plane was it and who shot it down?
A reconnaissance plane was shot down over Baalbek in the Bek'aa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Saturday.
Hezbullah claims it wasn't theirs.
Voice of Lebanon radio had reported on Saturday that the plane in fact belongs to the party, while Hizbullah later denied to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat having any links to it.
The daily al-Mustaqbal reported on Sunday that the crash was a result of a failed attempt by the party to launch a drone in the Younine region in Baalbek.
The attempt failed less than a minute after the plane’s take off, it said.
It exploded in the air and crashed on fire where it caused a major blaze in the area, stated the daily.
It added that the attempt is part of a number of maneuvers by the party to try out drones.
Hizbullah members immediately cordoned off the crash site, preventing anyone from entering the area.
The burned drone was transported to an unknown location and the crater that was caused has been filled in, reported al-Mustaqbal.
A security source meanwhile denied to the daily An Nahar that the object was a Hizbullah drone.
It said that the object was in fact a balloon attached to a circular base and metal cable.
The object is able to take off in the air by a candle that is lit inside the balloon, it explained.
The object is able to remain in the air for five to ten minutes, it continued.
Furthermore, it said that the object is readily available in the Lebanese market.
Yeah.... Sure....
Labels: Bekaa Valley, drone, Hezbullah
Iran buying Lebanese Christian properties
Last spring, there were rumors of an attempt by Syria and Hezbullah to
wall off the Bekaa Valley and use it as a weapons zone.
And in August 2007, I reported that Hezbullah was buying land north of the Litani River and turning it into a
no-go zone. At the time, I cited a report from Charles Levinson that Hezbullah was attempting to connect its stronghold in southern Lebanon with the Bekaa Valley.
There are, however, more sinister accusations. Jumblatt and other Druze leaders have been most vocal with accusations that Hezbollah has a grand plan to Shiitize what was heretofore a mixed Christian-Druze area in an attempt to create a contiguous swath of land connecting the south with Hezbollah’s other stronghold in Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley.
Getting rid of this irksome band of Christian and Druze villages would not only split the Druze off from their ancestral home in the Chouf Mountains, but would also mean weapons from Syria would have unfettered access to Hezbollah in the south without passing through potentially unfriendly territory. See the map below which has been floating around various anti-Hezbollah circles and claims, rather dubiously I think, to depict Hezbollah’s secret plans for a Shiite state inside Lebanon.
See the map at top left (the same one referred to by Levinson as "below"), and go back and
read the whole thing to refresh your memory.
In light of the above,
this report from Al-Arabiyah, which indicates that Iran is buying up Christian lands in Lebanon, should not be too surprising (Hat Tip:
Elder of Ziyon).
The recent rise in Iranian purchases of property owned by Christians stirred controversy in Lebanon as the Islamic republic is accused of dividing the country along sectarian lines and embarking on a Shiite infiltration scheme.
The Shiite purchase of Christian land in Lebanon drove Lebanese Labor Minister Botros Harb to submit to the cabinet a draft law that prohibits the sale of land across religions.
Harb’s proposal mirror Lebanese fears of a scheme that enables Iran of exercising growing economic influence in Lebanon through Shiite businessmen who buy lands and houses owned by Christians and take advantage of Lebanon’s free market economy.
The draft law, of which AlArabiya.net obtained a copy, consists of six articles and an explanation of the way in which they are not in violation of the Lebanese constitution.
The first article of the law stipulates that sale of property should only be among members of the same religion for the coming 15 years and that any contracts that violate this law should be annulled. This includes what the law describes as “fake contracts” where the purchasing party is not the real beneficiary of the deal.
According to the draft, those who violate this law whether by sale, purchase, or mediation will face five to 10 years in jail and fined double the price of the sold property.
According to Lebanese economic expert Dr. Ghazi Wazni, the law is unlikely to pass.
In addition to economic drawbacks, Wazni argued that the law will have an opposite result to what it aims at since it will enhance divisions and make owning property dependent on religion.
When asked about Iran, Wazni replied that Iranian investments are concentrated in the south and that he did not notice the same happening in other parts of Lebanon.
“However, Shiite investments have been growing in many parts of Lebanon.”
Wazni concluded by saying that it is very unlikely that Harb’s proposal will be approved.
“The possibility of approving this law or putting it on the cabinet’s agenda is zero percent.”
So is this an attempt to expel Christians from Lebanon? (Where are the people who are selling the land going?) Is it an attempt to clear militarily strategic areas of non-Muslims in preparation for war (as the attempt to link the south to the Bekaa clearly was)? One thing this probably isn't is the innocent machinations of a free-market economy.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Bekaa Valley, Iran, land purchases, Southern Lebanon
