In Lebanon's rugged south, the army works to dismantle Hezbollah's fortifications
Deep in a rugged valley of southern Lebanon, a cave complex offers a small picture of the subterranean infrastructure Hezbollah relied on near the Israeli border, along with the difficult task the country's army faces as it seeks to disarm the group.
Roughly 100 meters (330 feet) long, the complex in the Zibqin area, outfitted with electrical power and ventilated shafts, likely served as a command center and contained a smattering of abandoned equipment including first-aid kits and military jackets.
Weapons there had already been confiscated by the army.
A group of AFP correspondents were shown the Hezbollah position during an embed with the Lebanese Army -- the first such trip since a ceasefire was reached between Israel and the group a year ago.
Since then, the military has deployed around 10,000 troops to the area south of the country's Litani River, where they have swept through the countryside looking for weapons, command centers and infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed armed group.
"Over the past year, no evidence was presented to me of any weapons entering the area south of the Litani after the army's deployment," General Nicholas Tabet, who is helping oversee the operation, told journalists.
But even if the group has been unable to smuggle more arms into the area, the land was already awash with weapons and combat equipment.
The army told journalists it has seized around 230,000 items -- including weapons, ammunition, rocket launchers and missiles -- during search operations over the past year.
- Truce violations -
Under heavy U.S. pressure and fearing expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, which emerged badly weakened from more than a year of hostilities with Israel.
According to a government-approved plan, Lebanon's army is working to dismantle Hezbollah military infrastructure south of the Litani River -- some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border -- by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.
Hezbollah has largely resisted pressure from the government and outright refused to lay down its arms.
Meanwhile, Israel has kept up frequent strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it has been targeting Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
On Sunday, Israel assassinated the group's top military commander -- sparking fears that the already fragile truce was increasingly shaky.
Hezbollah on Friday said it reserved the right to respond to the killing of the commander at a time of its choosing.
With tensions riding high as fears of another war simmer, the Lebanese Army said it was working to complete their mission.
A military spokesman requesting anonymity said that "part of the weapons and ammunition that are confiscated is placed in secure warehouses for later destruction at specific sites."
Weapons and ammunition that are still usable are confiscated by the military and then added to their own stockpiles for potential later use, the spokesman added.
In a statement posted by the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Thursday evening, the peacekeeping force said it continued to find "illegal weapons" in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL said its forces also recorded over 10,000 air and ground violations of the truce in the past year.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this week warned there would be "no calm" in Lebanon if Israel's security was not guaranteed.
Source: Agence France Presse
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