Terrorism in Lebanon
Some of the deadliest terror attacks involved Anti Western motives, which peaked during the Lebanese Civil War, where militias would target diplomatic missions, namely from the United States and France.
Hezbollah's actions in Syria and its support for Hamas in Gaza are part of Iran's strategy to expand its influence and counterbalance Israeli and Western interests.
During the Lebanese Civil War, the Islamist Islamic Unification Movement (Tawheed) militiamen were responsible for several acts of violence in Tripoli against the local cells of the Alawite ADP and LCP.
In one occasion, Tawheed fighters rounded up some 52 top Communist members, forced them to renounce their atheism and then summarily shot them, dumping the victims' bodies into the Mediterranean.
[12] The Abdallah Azzam Brigades was formed by the Saudi national Saleh Al-Qaraawi in 2009 as an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and was tasked with hitting targets in the Levant and throughout the Middle East.
On 16 March 1977, the PSP leader Kamal Jumblatt was ambushed and killed in his car near Baakline in the Chouf by unidentified gunmen (allegedly, fighters from the pro-Syrian faction of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, acting in collusion with the Syrian military commander of the Mount Lebanon region, Colonel Ibrahim Houeijy);[42][43] believing that the perpetrators were members of the predominately Christian Phalangist Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) or Tigers Militias, PLF militiamen extracted swift retribution on the local Maronite population living in the intermixed towns and villages around Baakline.
On 18 April, a suicide car bomber stole a van carrying 2,000 pounds of explosives and slammed into the U.S. Embassy killing 63 people including 18 Americans.
[45] On 23 October, a suicide car bomber in a truck carrying 2500 pounds of explosives crashed through the gates of a US Marine barracks killing 241 American servicemen and wounding 81.
A telephone message claiming to represent Islamic Jihad proclaimed: "We are responsible of the assassination of the president of AUB ... We also vow that not a single American or French will remain on this soil.
These include the assassinations in Paris of the assistant US military Attaché to the American embassy, Lieutenant colonel Charles R. Ray on January 18, 1982,[49] followed on 3 April of that year by the Israeli diplomat Yaakov Barsimantov.
Intelligence reports indicated that Harb's operations allowed Hezbollah to launder hundreds of millions of dollars, mixing drug money with the proceeds of legitimate businesses.
[70] U.S. officials believe Hezbollah began turning to global criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking to offset declining financial support from Iran, which had been impacted by economic sanctions.
"The ability of terror groups like Hezbollah to tap into worldwide criminal funding streams is the new post-9/11 challenge," said Derek Maltz, the DEA official who oversaw the agency's investigation into the Lebanese Canadian Bank.
[72][73] These groups became more visible by 2010, when the Tucson Police Department reported International Terrorism Situational Awareness for Hezbollah in Mexico, noting the arrest of Jameel Nasar in Tijuana.
A report from the US House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management tied Middle East terror organizations with Mexican drug cartels.
[80] The aim of the series of operations was to "cause chaos among the Palestinians and Syrians in Lebanon, without leaving an Israeli fingerprint, to give them the feeling that they were constantly under attack and to instill them with a sense of insecurity.
"[92] Libya under Muammar Gaddafi provided sanctuary, training, arms, and financial support to a variety of Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Abu Nidal organization, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).
Several other bombings and assassinations against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon include Samir Kassir, George Hawi, Gebran Tueni, Pierre Amine Gemayel, and Walid Eido.
Former cabinet member Michel Samaha was arrested on 9 August 2012 for his alleged involvement in transporting explosives into Lebanon, with the help of the Syrian Security Chief Ali Mamlouk, to carry out terrorist attacks in order to incite sectarian strife and destabilize the country.
[98][99][100] Samaha allegedly confessed on 10 August to the Internal Security Forces Information Branch that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wanted bomb attacks in Lebanon.
[101] According to leaked interrogation transcripts, Samaha allegedly suggested that the planned bombings were meant to target Lebanese Christian leaders in order to raise sectarian tensions.
The explosion caused the three-story building to collapse, crashing down on about 200 diners and employees, killing 18 people, all Spanish citizens, and injuring 82 others, including eleven Americans working at the nearby Torrejón Air Base who frequented the restaurant.
[120] The CSPPA was believed to have been some combination of Palestinians, Armenian nationalists, and Lebanese Marxists, though it was later reported that they were mainly instigated by Hezbollah, sponsored by the Iranian state.
He falsely claimed there was a bomb on board and instructing passengers to remain seated intending to crash it into a significant target, likely the U.S. Capitol or the White House, after the plane took off from Newark, New Jersey.
Six or seven Lebanese men[135] (including Hassan Izz-Al-Din, a veteran of the TWA 847 hijacking[136]) armed with guns and hand grenades forced the pilot to land in Mashhad, Iran.
Iraqi Airways security personnel tried to stop the hijackers, but a hand grenade was detonated in the passenger cabin, forcing the crew to initiate an emergency descent.
[139][140] Since the outbreak of conflict in Syria, the Lebanese Army has been deployed to prevent clashes from taking place in the city of Tripoli, as well as in other hot zones such as Beirut and Arsal on the eastern borders.
In 2014, ISIS and Al-Nusra Front terrorist groups established small bases and fortifications in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, where they operated against Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army.
In August 2017, the Lebanese Armed Forces, commanded by Joseph Aoun, initiated the Jroud Dawn Operation which was an offensive against an Islamic State enclave on the northeast border with Syria.
[144] For decades, Israel, a key ally of the United States in the region of the Middle East, has engaged in its own war on terror against Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed insurgent groups.
