Nahar Ash-Shabab (An-Nahar’s weekly youth supplement) exclusively publishes a document from the Intelligence Directorate that confirms the Sannine incident …..
The attack led by armed Hezbollah militants on Lebanese citizens who were arrested and questioned in the Sannine area on June 22 drove many people to the edge of panic. Hezbollah issued a statement of denial one week after this incident occurred. What happened in reality in Sannine? What is the truth about Hezbollah’s positioning in several Christian regions and villages, especially in the Jezzine area? Is it true that Hezbollah militants are deployed and manning positions on mountaintops extending all the way to Oyoun al-Simane and Jbeil’s mountainous area? This report shall attempt to answer some of these questions.
On June 23, Kataeb party leader President Amin Gemayel raised the issue of an attack by armed Hezbollah militants targeting five young men in the Sannine area. The Hezbollah men shot in the youths’ general direction, forcing them to stop, and questioned them before releasing them, knowing that the youths were natives of the region, specifically of Baskinta.
Several questions emerged after the incident: Why is Hezbollah militarily deployed in Christian areas par excellence, areas that are located far away from any potential confrontation lines with Israel? If, as the armed men claim, they fear an Israeli military airdrop in the area, how and why would such an operation take place at such a remote location? Does Hezbollah have the military capacity to deploy across the whole mountainous area in order to prevent any Israeli airdrop? If this was indeed a shallow pretext, what then are the real reasons behind this deployment? Is there a secret plan that comes in continuation to the armed military deployment initiated by Hezbollah ever since May 7, starting from Beirut and the Mountain and extending into the remaining regions?
This incident was brought up in the media by President Gemayel and LF Executive Committee leader Dr. Samir Geagea, who also examined its minutest details. Yet, Hezbollah’s response came quite late, a whole week following the incident, to be more specific, which made it even more suspicious. In fact, it is not in Hezbollah’s habit to lag behind when it comes to issuing statements to clarify any given incident. This holds true except with regard to two issues: First, Hezbollah’s communications network, which it declined to comment on for months in a row; and second, the arrest of the French Socialist Party member as comments on this issue came with a delay of several days. Apart from these two cases, the party always used to issue a response or comment on any issue within a few hours.
Official document
The youths involved gave accounts of this incident to the official website of the Kataeb party, and the story was published by newspapers and the main media outlets. Beside this account, Nahar Ash-Shabab managed to obtain an official document issued by the Lebanese army’s Intelligence Directorate on the same day, i.e. on June 22, 2008, at 5:33 p.m., describing the incident as follows:
“Najib Nicolas Tabcharani was driving his Land Rover along with Roukoz Boulos al-Khoury Hanna (head of the Baskinta Kataeb local office) in addition to Salim Fouad Abu Haidar, who was driving a white Mercedes Jeep in the company of Joe Akl (head of the Kataeb Discipline Service) and Michel Fouad Abi Hayla. The five men were touring an area of Mount Sannine (…) located at around a one-hour drive after the Sannine restaurants. As they were on their way, eight unknown and armed masked men riding a camouflaged white Toyota fired in their direction in order to force them to stop. Al-Khoury Hanna emerged from the first car to see what this was all about, and the passengers in the second car were all arrested, whereas al-Tabcharani alone managed to evade them. The armed men claimed to be Hezbollah militants manning an observation position in the area in order to prevent any Israeli airdrop. All [five Kataeb] partisans were released unharmed at 2:00 p.m. after one of them had made a phone call. The abovementioned five men discovered that there was a Hezbollah camp some 10 km away from their location.”
This official document, published by the Lebanese Army’s Intelligence Directorate, (…) proves beyond the shadow of a doubt the truth of what happened in Sannine and the inexactitude of Hezbollah’s denial. Security sources informed of this issue asserted to Nahar Ash-Shabab that the Lebanese Army’s Intelligence Directorate managed to gain comprehensive knowledge of this issue and follow up on it in light of the incident that was reported in the Faraya-Oyoun al-Simane area. It has thus become certain that Hezbollah has a presence in several regions across the mountaintops of the Western mountain range extending from Jezzine, al-Barouk and Sannine to Oyoun al-Simane and Jbeil’s mountainous area. Indeed, a profusion of observation and ambush positions is to be found on the mountain slopes, not to mention activities in several regions aimed at building networks and undergrounds tunnels.
Deployment in Jezzine villages
Security sources revealed to Nahar Ash-Shabab the details and maps of Hezbollah’s deployment and building positions in the Jezzine area, especially in Christian villages, so as to form what Hezbollah refers to as the second line of defense to the north of the Litani River.
This deployment is taking place along two parallel lines:
– This first line was established across the public domains and valleys of Jensnaya all the way up to the East through the slope between al-Hassaniyyeh and Wadi al-Laymoun, Tallet Barteh and Sfenti (between the villages of Snayya and Beslayya) and extending to Mazraat Kafra to the South of Zhalteh.
– The second line starts to the south of the road between al-Sawwan, Jabal Tora and the radar trough al-Louaizeh, Sejod, Mazraat al-Zeghrine, al-Aaychiyyeh, al-Qatrani, al-Sreireh and Berket Jabbour and extending all the way to Maydoun and Machghara in the Western Bekaa. (For additional details, please refer to the enclosed map, which mentions the names of the villages in which public domains and adjacent valleys and hills Hezbollah’s militants took up their new military positions.)
The region’s inhabitants fear that this military deployment in the area may lead to a methodical displacement of the inhabitants of Jezzine villages. This holds especially true as armed Hezbollah men prevent them from exploiting their land and erecting constructions. These militants sometimes occupy their lands for more than an hour, while some are totally forbidden from accessing their properties.
Locals tell the story of a Remmaneh inhabitant who tried to build a house in his hometown. Armed Hezbollah militants ordered him to get a building license from the party’s security officer in the village of Jbaa. The official in question did grant him the license, but the man was later prevented from starting construction work under the pretext that the security situation does not allow it!
Increasing annoyance is also to be recorded among local inhabitants and officials because land plots are now being used to build advanced military fortifications, and huge quantities of iron and cement are being shipped in for this purpose.
The security sources asserted to Nahar Ash-Shabab that “a Korean company is responsible for executing the construction of the fortifications and military outposts under the supervision of officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”
According to these sources, the geographical area that is being referred to encompasses missile launch ramps located some 30 km away from the southern border, which automatically infers that these missiles have a range exceeding 100 km so as to hit the Israeli heartland. The sources deem that Hezbollah’s concentration in Remmaneh-Jabal Tora is the most important one in terms of fire power following the Jenta camp in the Western Bekaa.
The security sources also spoke of planned explosions and maneuvers with live ammunition staged by Hezbollah in the area, which recently led – for instance – to the death of five militants from al-Nabi Sheet from the Chakar, Moussawi and al-Mawla families as they were manufacturing explosive devices.
Based on the above, it becomes quite clear that Hezbollah’s activities transcend the known and constantly renewed array of pretexts and talk of confronting Israel, especially in regions located so far away from confrontation lines. This is taking place at a time when indirect Syrian-Israeli negotiations are moving forward through Turkey’s mediation, thus giving rise to several questions pertaining to Hezbollah’s plans. Therefore, will Hezbollah merely issue another statement of denial with a one-week delay, or will it dare reveal to the public opinion the truth about its military infiltration and deployment, which – the least one can say – has grown way out of hand?!