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‘Hezbollah’ Develops Iranian Drone to Use in Qalamoun Outskirts

A Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ militant carries his weapon as he stands in Khashaat, in the Qalamoun region on May 15, 2015. (Reuters)
A Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ militant carries his weapon as he stands in Khashaat, in the Qalamoun region on May 15, 2015. (Reuters)
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‘Hezbollah’ Develops Iranian Drone to Use in Qalamoun Outskirts

A Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ militant carries his weapon as he stands in Khashaat, in the Qalamoun region on May 15, 2015. (Reuters)
A Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ militant carries his weapon as he stands in Khashaat, in the Qalamoun region on May 15, 2015. (Reuters)

Photographs released by Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” war media showed a remarkable development in its arsenal with new drones capable of carrying missiles. These drones appear to be a development of Iranian warplanes of the same kind – but bigger – that are being used in Syria.

“Hezbollah” used the drone for the first time in the border region of al-Qalamoun to target ISIS terrorists, but did not disclose further details about them. It only said that they were being employed to strike ISIS positions and fortifications in Qalamoun, near the border with Lebanon.

These photographs reflect a development in the military industries of “Hezbollah”.

The armed group originally announced that it was manufacturing drones back in October 2012 when Israeli warplanes shot down a drone that the party later claimed as its own.

Hisham Jaber, head of the Middle East Center for Studies and Political Research, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the drone revealed on Monday is “small and capable of carrying up to six medium-sized munitions.”

He added that “they are controlled from close range and can fly at an altitude of 200-300 meters for an hour.” Such warplanes are used to strike tactical targets, he continued.

Iran uses such drones in Syria and they were first revealed when they flew beside US military bases in al-Tanf at the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border triangle. The US warplanes shot down one such drone two months ago, making it more probable that the drones are manufactured by Iran.

“But these drones are smaller than the Iranian ones in Tanf. It is easy to deliver small parts of the drone to Syria where they are manufactured and armed by ‘Hezbollah’ technicians,” Jaber stated.

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UN Investigative Team Says Syria’s New Authorities ‘Very Receptive’ to Probe of Assad War Crimes

A man looks at the pictures of missing people, believed to be prisoners from Sednaya prison, which was known as a "slaughterhouse" under Syria's Bashar al-Assad's rule, after his ousting, in Marjeh Square also known as Martyrs Square in Damascus, Syria December 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A man looks at the pictures of missing people, believed to be prisoners from Sednaya prison, which was known as a "slaughterhouse" under Syria's Bashar al-Assad's rule, after his ousting, in Marjeh Square also known as Martyrs Square in Damascus, Syria December 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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UN Investigative Team Says Syria’s New Authorities ‘Very Receptive’ to Probe of Assad War Crimes

A man looks at the pictures of missing people, believed to be prisoners from Sednaya prison, which was known as a "slaughterhouse" under Syria's Bashar al-Assad's rule, after his ousting, in Marjeh Square also known as Martyrs Square in Damascus, Syria December 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A man looks at the pictures of missing people, believed to be prisoners from Sednaya prison, which was known as a "slaughterhouse" under Syria's Bashar al-Assad's rule, after his ousting, in Marjeh Square also known as Martyrs Square in Damascus, Syria December 22, 2024. (Reuters)

The UN organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus, and it is preparing to deploy.

The visit led by Robert Petit, head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, was the first since the organization was established by the UN General Assembly in 2016. It was created to assist in evidence-gathering and prosecution of individuals responsible for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.

Petit highlighted the urgency of preserving documents and other evidence before it is lost.

Since the opposition overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and the opening of prisons and detention facilities there have been rising demands from Syrians for the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities and killings while he was in power.

“The fall of the Assad rule is a significant opportunity for us to fulfill our mandate on the ground,” Petit said. “Time is running out. There is a small window of opportunity to secure these sites and the material they hold.”

UN associate spokesperson Stephane Tremblay said Monday the investigative team “is preparing for an operational deployment as early as possible and as soon as it is authorized to conduct activities on Syrian soil.”

The spokesperson for the organization, known as the IIIM, who was on the trip with Petit, went further, telling The Associated Press: “We are preparing to deploy on the expectation that we will get authorization.”

“The representatives from the caretaker authorities were very receptive to our request for cooperation and are aware of the scale of the task ahead,” the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of not being named. “They emphasized that they will need expertise to help safeguard the newly accessible documentation.”

The IIIM did not disclose which officials in the new government it met with or the site that Petit visited afterward.

“Even at one facility,” Petit said, “the mountains of government documentation reveal the chilling efficiency of systemizing the regime’s atrocity crimes.”

He said that a collective effort by Syrians, civil society organizations and international partners will be needed, as a priority, “to preserve evidence of the crimes committed, avoid duplication, and ensure that all victims are inclusively represented in the pursuit of justice.”

In June 2023, the 193-member General Assembly also established an Independent Institution of Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic to clarify the fate and whereabouts of more than 130,000 people missing as a result of the conflict.