This August 4, 2020 file photo, is the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. 220 killed , 7000 Injured , after hundreds of toosn of Ammonium Nitrate Exploded . 2,750 tonnes were stored there illegally for nearly 7 years. Judge Fadi Sawan who was initially in charge of the investigation was fired for charging Hezbollah-backed Lebanese government officials with negligence over the explosion. Judge Tarek Bitar replaced Judge Sawan and Hezbollah tried to get him fired too , reportedly because it is concerned about exposing its role in supplying the Syrian government with the explosive chemical for use in its barrel bombs (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, Beirut, Lebanon(Photo by Anwar Amro/AFP)
Syria’s new authorities have confirmed what was widely reported in Lebanon which is
“The involvement of the former Syrian regime of Basar Al Assad in cooperation with Iran-backed Lebanese militias” in “the import and smuggling of the ammonium nitrate” of which hundreds of tons exploded at Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020
This comes after an investigation by Syria’s justice ministry and judiciary, sources of Lebanon’s Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Monday.
“The regime used this substance by mixing it with fuel to produce low-cost and highly destructive explosives,” The Daily added
It quoted its sources as saying that the investigations are based on the testimonies of former officers who “confirmed their participation in the use of this substance that was smuggled from Lebanon.”
The alleged testimonies also said that “Syrian regime officers in coordination with Lebanese sides oversaw the transfer of the shipments to Beirut’s port based on direct instructions from Maher al-Assad,” the brother of Syria’s ousted president Bashar al-Assad and the previous commander of the Fourth Armored Division.
“These shipments were used to manufacture the explosive for use in barrel bombs that killed thousands of civilians and destroyed vast areas of Syria,” Nidaa al-Watan said.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 50,000 explosive barrels were dropped during the Syrian war years.
“The investigations are expanding daily and new secrets about the ammonium nitrate scandals and its repercussions are being exposed, which puts senior Syrian, Lebanese and Iranian officials in the spotlight,” the Syrian sources added.
“Their names are expected to be revealed upon the end of all measures and the announcement of the probe’s outcome,” the sources said, adding that “the investigations have expanded to target Lebanese nationals linked to an international network who contributed to facilitating the entry of ammonium nitrate shipments to Lebanon and allowed their transfer to Syria, despite knowing the danger of the material’s use.”
Lokman Slim, a prominent researcher and a Hezbollah critic was assassinated in 2022 after revealing the same information about Hezbollah’s role in the Ammonium Nitrate explosion
According to a report by the FBI, only about 500 of the 2750 tons exploded and if the whole amount exploded the entire Lebanese capital would have been leveled