The bombs were found by a United Nations peace-keeping patrol on Dec. 26
near the Shi'ite village of Khiyam, about one kilometer from the Israeli
border, Middle East Newsline reported. Five people, believed to have been Hizbullah operatives, were said
to have fled the scene.
"Searches conducted by UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army, which also
arrived at the scene, revealed a number of explosive pits containing dozens
of improvised explosive devices of various types, weighing a total of about
300 kilograms," the report said.
The Israeli center, regarded as the government's clearing-house for
open-sourced intelligence and analysis, said additional Hizbullah bombs were
believed to have been planted along the Israeli border. The report said
Hizbullah has dug numerous pits in southern Lebanon for the concealment of
mines and munitions.
"A comparison of the IEDs found to those used by Hizbullah in the past
against the IDF and other indications make it likely that Hizbullah was
responsible for placing them near the Israeli border this time," the report
said.
The report said Hizbullah has been digging such pits for explosives in
southern Lebanon since at least 2006. The Hizbullah operations were said to
have indicated preparations by the militia for another conflict with Israel.
"This incident, like those which preceded it, proves that Hizbullah has
returned to regular military-terrorist activities in the eastern sector of
south Lebanon, using a modus operandi familiar from the period before the
second Lebanon war [in 2006]," the report said. "Its activities are based on
the military-terrorist infrastructure it constructed in south Lebanon with
the aid of Iran and Syria."
