Lebanese troops have seized a truckload of rockets and ammunition belonging to Hezbollah guerrillas in eastern Lebanon, security officials said on Wednesday. The shipment of GRAD rockets and ammunition for automatic rifles and machine guns was seized late on Tuesday at a random army checkpoint near the town of Baalbek. Six Hezbollah members transporting the weapons were released, but the weapons were moved to a nearby army barracks.The shipmentÂ’s destination was unknown and it was not clear whether the militants were transferring the weapons from within the country or bringing the shipmen from Syria, as they have reportedly done in the past. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the weaponsÂ’ seizure.
Under a UN Security Council resolution that halted last summer’s fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, any transfer of weapons to groups other than the government is illegal. But Hezbollah leaders have boasted that they have replenished their weapons cache after the fighting. Hezbollah has urged the government to abide by its own policy, proclaimed in 2005, to support the “resistance” in the south Lebanese shorthand for the guerrilla group.
The guerrillas have, since November, left the government along with its allies and joined the opposition seeking to topple US-backed Prime Minister Faud Saniora. In February, authorities seized a truck bringing military supplies for Hezbollah in a Beirut suburb. The group acknowledged the shipment was theirs and demanded it be returned, but the government refused.