Lebanon: 13 people accused of transporting a shipment of explosives for Hezbollah

The government commissioner at the military court in Lebanon accused 13 people, including two detainees, of involvement with a shipment of explosives belonging to Hezbollah that was seized by security forces on October 8 in the Dahr al-Baydar area. The shipment was loaded with 500 kilograms of highly explosive materials and was en route from the east of the country towards Beirut. Security forces stopped the truck driver and a person accompanying him, and Hezbollah later acknowledged that the explosives belonged to them. Judge Claude Ghanem indicted 12 people belonging to Hezbollah in addition to the wife of one of them, on charges including violating government decisions, possessing weapons and explosives, and forming illegal associations aimed at undermining the authority and prestige of the state. Eight of the accused have been fully identified, including the two detainees and the wife of one of them, while the other five are known only by their military aliases. The penalties for the charges against them can reach up to ten years of hard labor. Ghanem referred the file to the first military investigating judge, Ghada Abu Alwan, to conduct investigations and issue necessary arrest warrants. This comes amid increasing pressure on Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, after the government decided last year under American pressure to disarm it.