The Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army has tightened security regulations in the southern Lebanon security zone following the suicide truck-bomb attack on an Israel Defense Force-SLA convoy last Wednesday.
The SLA, which polices the zone jointly with the IDF, is enforcing a rule that requires at least two persons to be in a vehicle at any time, whether moving or standing.
The premise is that two people are less likely to launch a suicide attack. Failure to comply to lauch a suicide attack. Failure to comply with the regulation could lead to confiscation of the vehicle.
One SLA and five IDF soldiers were injured in the Aug. 9 incident. The suicide bomber was identified as Sheikh Assad Biro, a member of the extremist Hezbollah, or Party of God.
The IDF disclosed that a 29-year-old resident of Markabeh village in the security zone was detained shortly after the truck-bomb attack on suspicion of having helped Biro.
According to an IDF spokesman, the suspect, who was not identified, lived in Beirut when he was recruited by Hezbollah.
He was then sent back to the security zone to recruit other young people to join the extremist, pro-Iranian Shiite organization, the spokesman said.
The purpose was to establish cells inside the security zone to attack IDF and SLA targets.
The suspect recruited, among others, his friend Biro, who is a friend of Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid, the Hezbollah leader abducted by Israeli commandos on July 28 from his home in southern Lebanon.
According to the IDF, Biro drove into the security zone in a General Motors red pickup truck already laden with explosives.
Biro stayed at the house of the suspect, who allegedly guided Biro to the best spot from which to attack the convoy and left him shortly before the convoy approached.
The new security regulations announced by the SLA on Sunday include the issuance of license plates and drivers’ licenses.
Neither has been in force for years because of the chaotic situation in Lebanon, Residents of the security zone are complaining that they are being forced to comply with a rule that doesn’t apply elsewhere in the country.
Some say it is a prelude to incorporation of the security zone into Israel.
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