Hospital Raid Captures Hezbollah Officials

Jerusalem Post is reporting that a number of unidentified Hezbollah officials were captured during the Israeli commando raid on a Baalbek hospital. Israel reports no commandos were injured despite loud chest-thumping from Hezbollah spokesmen.

 After several hours of intense fighting in and around the hospital in the eastern Lebanon town of Baalbek, which was built by Iran for the express purpose of treating Hizbullah operatives, IDF commando forces on Wednesday morning took a number of Hizbullah operatives captive.

An IAF helicopter dropped commando forces a short distance from the hospital late Tuesday night. The force was discovered as it moved towards the structure, where Hizbullah operatives were suspected of hiding. Several hours of gunfights ensued, and at least 10 Hizbullah guerrillas were reported killed.

Another force was helicoptered in to extricate the commandos and provide backup for the mission.

After inspecting the identification of everyone in the hospital, the IDF soldiers proceeded to arrest several Hizbullah officials, who were later transported back into Israel. The officials' names and positions in the organization were not revealed.

The main target of the operation was allegedly Muhammad Yazbek, a senior figure in the organization; however, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said in a briefing on Wednesday that IDF forces "weren't there to obtain something specific." Yazbek was not in the hospital at the time of the raid.

No IDF soldiers were wounded in the operation, an army spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.

I saw over at the Counterterrorism blog that the men captured might have been fairly low level. At least one of the men had a name very similar to the leader of Hezbollah.

I saw over at the Counterterrorism blog that the men captured might have been fairly low level. At least one of the men had a name very similar to the leader of Hezbollah.