Lebanon’s PM vows thorough investigation after explosives-laden truck seized

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vows that authorities will deal firmly with all illegal weapons, days after security forces seized a truck carrying explosives suspected of belonging to Hezbollah.

A judicial official told AFP that authorities on Thursday detained two suspected members of the Iran-backed group at a security checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar, near a road linking Lebanon with Syria, as they headed to Beirut.

They were allegedly transporting half a ton of explosives — 250 kilograms (551 pounds) of TNT and 250 kilograms of C4, the official said.

Salam on X confirms that “it has become known that a few days ago a truck was stopped” in Dahr al-Baidar “carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosive materials” including C4.

“We will not be lenient in following up and expanding the investigation in order to identify all those involved in this criminal operation, and those behind them,” he says.

“We will deal with weapons outside the legal framework with the required firmness,” he adds, whether regarding their possession, transportation or use.

Salam also says that he understands “Lebanese worries” over the C4, particularly as it “has been used in a number of political assassinations” in Lebanon’s history.

Judicial officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, tell The Associated Press that the two people who were detained have said they were only told to take the material from the northeastern region of Baalbek to Beirut without being told what it would be used for. They were supposed to hand it over to a man south of Beirut whom they identified by his nom de guerre, Zulfiqar, the officials said.

Hezbollah has declined comment.

For years, Hezbollah has moved weapons freely in parts of Lebanon. That changed in March, when the Lebanese government declared all military activities by the Iran-backed group “illegal.” That decision came hours after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, triggering a three-month war that killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon. The group fired the rockets two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran, its main backer.