Report: CIA in Lebanon to uncover military's ties to Hezbollah
Lebanese newspaper "El Ahbar" reported that since the ground operation began, Western actors have begun to initiate "intensive daily communication" with the official forces in the country
The Lebanese newspaper "Al-Akhbar" published today (Monday) that three senior officials in the Lebanese security services admitted that since the ground upheaval in Lebanon began, Western elements - led by the USA - initiated intensive daily communication with the military forces and Lebanese security forces.
Thus, sources in Lebanon reported to Al-Akhbar that the West's connection with the Lebanese army was focused on gathering information and assessments about the terrorist organization.
In fact, the report claimed that what interested these countries was receiving assessments and data from the official agencies in Lebanon, about the state of the leadership in Hezbollah following the assassination of the organization's Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, and they sought to gather details about the changes in the leadership situation and the military structure.
According to one of these sources, one of the standout points is that the American side showed more interest than the others in whether Hezbollah is "still communicating with the military, security and operational forces in Lebanon, in addition to questions about the form and content of communication."
This and more - one source revealed a development that took place a few days ago: "An American security team, including 15 officers from the US Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, arrived at Beirut Airport last Thursday. The team left the airport in a convoy of armored vehicles without license plates, and headed for the US embassy."
The source explained that the team "joined the work cell, based in one of the embassy's branches in Beirut, to assist in managing the Beirut station".
It was also reported that one of the seniors revealed that a few days ago, "Hezbollah leadership asked Hajj Wafiq Safa, as head of the liaison and coordination committee with the Lebanese army and security forces, to contact a number of elements in these forces on issues related to the ongoing war."
The senior official explained, "The communication with Sefa took place despite Hezbollah knowing that the very existence of a phone call would constitute a security threat to Sefa," and pointed out that these fears were confirmed when the IDF attacked in Beirut, and leaked information that the target was Sefa himself - "before Hezbollah later claimed the information was incorrect."