Syria seizes weapons hidden in tanker truck, says cargo was for Hezbollah

DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) – Syrian authorities said on Thursday they had foiled an attempt to smuggle advanced weapons and missiles across the border from Iraq, with an Interior Ministry source quoted by state news agency SANA saying the shipment appeared destined for Hezbollah.

Syria’s General Authority of Ports and Customs said the shipment, which included rockets and drones, was concealed inside “one of the oil tanker-trucks headed to the city of Baniyas”. It was discovered during routine inspection procedures at the al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq after customs officers subjected the suspected vehicle to a more thorough search.

Following the seizure, Iraq said it would form a high-level committee to investigate. The military’s Joint Operations Command said Baghdad would coordinate with Syrian authorities to establish the circumstances of the attempted smuggling, hold those responsible to account, and strengthen security along the shared border.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah denied having activity in Syria, in a statement, calling the accusations “nothing more than fabricated narratives with no basis in fact”.

The Baniyas route has become an increasingly important corridor for fuel movements between Iraq and Syria.

Reuters reported last month that Iraq was preparing to expand exports through Syria to include crude oil and naphtha, building on an existing arrangement under which fuel oil is transported overland to Baniyas for onward export. 

Iraqi officials have said the initiative is part of a government strategy to diversify export routes beyond the Gulf.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in June he had spoken to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa about combating Hezbollah, which is fighting Israel in Lebanon.

The former rebels who now run Syria fought against Hezbollah for years as it was sending fighters to support Syria’s then-president, Bashar al-Assad, in a civil war.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said Sharaa had assured him that Syria would not take sides in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam, Jana Choukeir and Feras Dalatey in Dubai; Additional Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell)