US Targets Sanctions Evasion Network Tied to Hezbollah

 A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Targets Sanctions Evasion Network Tied to Hezbollah

 A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)

The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday on what it described as a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that funnels millions of dollars to Hezbollah.

The action targeted three individuals linked to Hezbollah's finance arm and four Lebanon-based companies registered to conceal ties to the armed group, according to a Treasury Department statement.

The US also sanctioned three individuals involved in the production and sale of the amphetamine known as captagon, who it said have funded the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its allies, including Hezbollah.

"Today's action underscores (Hezbollah's) destabilizing influence within Lebanon and on the wider region, as the group, its affiliates, and its supporters continue to finance their operations through covert involvement in commercial trade and the illicit trafficking of captagon,” Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.



Israeli Strike Wounds 2 Civilians in Syria

People fleeing Israeli bombardment in Lebanon walk across a crater caused by an Israeli strike, in the area of Masnaa on the Lebanese side of the border crossing with Syria, on October 15, 2024. Syrian state media said Israeli jets also targeted Latakia province early Thursday. (AFP)
People fleeing Israeli bombardment in Lebanon walk across a crater caused by an Israeli strike, in the area of Masnaa on the Lebanese side of the border crossing with Syria, on October 15, 2024. Syrian state media said Israeli jets also targeted Latakia province early Thursday. (AFP)
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Israeli Strike Wounds 2 Civilians in Syria

People fleeing Israeli bombardment in Lebanon walk across a crater caused by an Israeli strike, in the area of Masnaa on the Lebanese side of the border crossing with Syria, on October 15, 2024. Syrian state media said Israeli jets also targeted Latakia province early Thursday. (AFP)
People fleeing Israeli bombardment in Lebanon walk across a crater caused by an Israeli strike, in the area of Masnaa on the Lebanese side of the border crossing with Syria, on October 15, 2024. Syrian state media said Israeli jets also targeted Latakia province early Thursday. (AFP)

Syria’s military said Israel wounded two civilians and damaged a military post in a strike early Thursday in the coastal city of Latakia, about 100 kilometers north of the Lebanese border.

Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and has escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in recent weeks, after a year of near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire.

Thursday's attack resulted in fires breaking out there, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Firefighters were working on extinguishing the fires, SANA added.

Two people were injured and private properties were damaged, state media reported citing a military statement.