France Asks Lebanon to Question 2 Suspects in 1983 Bombing

While a French trooper stands guard, an earth mover constructs a block of a street to beef up security near French paratroop command two days after it was attacked by a terrorist bomb, in Beirut, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1983. (AP)
While a French trooper stands guard, an earth mover constructs a block of a street to beef up security near French paratroop command two days after it was attacked by a terrorist bomb, in Beirut, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1983. (AP)
TT
20

France Asks Lebanon to Question 2 Suspects in 1983 Bombing

While a French trooper stands guard, an earth mover constructs a block of a street to beef up security near French paratroop command two days after it was attacked by a terrorist bomb, in Beirut, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1983. (AP)
While a French trooper stands guard, an earth mover constructs a block of a street to beef up security near French paratroop command two days after it was attacked by a terrorist bomb, in Beirut, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1983. (AP)

French authorities have asked Lebanese prosecutors to detain two people suspected of involvement in a 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed dozens of French troops, Lebanese judicial officials said Wednesday.

It is highly unlikely that Lebanese authorities will detain the suspects nearly 40 years after the attacks. Neither has ever been taken into custody.

The request identified the two suspects as Yousef al-Khalil and Sanaa al-Khalil and called on Lebanon’s prosecutor’s office to detain and question them, then inform French authorities of the outcome. It was not immediately clear if the two are related.

On Oct. 23, 1983, suicide car bombers simultaneously blew up a US Marine base and French paratroopers headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 American servicemembers and 58 French troops.

The American and French troops were deployed in Lebanon a year earlier as part of a multinational force following Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

A pro-Iranian Shiite group, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the 1983 attacks, which marked the beginning of the end of Western attempts to stop Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. Several months later, the peacekeeping force of US, French, British and Italian troops left Lebanon.

Islamic Jihad was believed to be linked to Hezbollah, although Hezbollah officials have denied that.

The judicial officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, did not say whether the two are members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. The request did not say whether the two are still alive, the officials said without giving further details.

In 1997, Lebanese authorities ordered two men investigated for possible links to the suicide bombings of US and French military bases in the first legal action in the case.

The two men that police were ordered to investigate at the time were Hassan Ezzedine and Ali Atwi, believed to have been senior security officials of Hezbollah in the 1980s. The men were never detained.



Trump Warns Yemen's Houthis 'Will Be Completely Annihilated' as US Launches More Strikes

A man passes by a display of Houthi-made mock missile and drones at a square in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 March 2025. (EPA)
A man passes by a display of Houthi-made mock missile and drones at a square in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 March 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Trump Warns Yemen's Houthis 'Will Be Completely Annihilated' as US Launches More Strikes

A man passes by a display of Houthi-made mock missile and drones at a square in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 March 2025. (EPA)
A man passes by a display of Houthi-made mock missile and drones at a square in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 March 2025. (EPA)

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up his rhetoric regarding Yemen's Houthi militias as the American military launched more airstrikes against them, warning they “will be completely be annihilated.”

Trump made the comment on his website Truth Social. He claimed, without offering evidence, Iranian military support to the Houthis “has lessened” but said it needed to entirely stop.

“Let the Houthis fight it out themselves,” he wrote. “Tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians, and watch how it will get progressively worse — It's not even a fair fight, and never will be. They will be completely annihilated!”

The Houthis said strikes against them continued overnight. The US military has not offered a breakdown of the strikes.

The United States struck targets in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Wednesday, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported, the latest in a wave of strikes carried out in retaliation for attacks by the Iran-aligned militias on shipping in the Red Sea.

Three residents told Reuters that the strikes had hit the Al-Jarraf district of Sanaa, close to the city's airport.

The US began the current wave of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen last Saturday, killing at least 31 people in the biggest such operation since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Unfazed by the US strikes and threats, the Houthis have said they will escalate their attacks, including on Israel, in response to the US campaign.

On Tuesday the Houthis said they had fired a ballistic missile towards Israel and that they would expand their range of targets in that country in the coming days in retaliation for renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza after weeks of relative calm.

The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel's war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza's Palestinians.

The attacks have disrupted global commerce and set the US military off on a costly campaign to intercept missiles.