Minister Says Hezbollah Removed Stored Ammonium Nitrate from Germany in 2016

Arab World

September 8th, 5:41pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

The scene immediately after the port explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020. (AFP)

Hezbollah has stored in Germany the chemical ammonium nitrate, which it has used in bombings across the world, a state interior minister said, according to the Jerusalem Post. “The stored cold packs were brought out of Germany in 2016,” said Baden-Württemberg Minister Thomas Strobl confirmed Friday, according to a regional newspaper. “There are no findings or indications that the local cold pack storage is related to the storage in the Port of Beirut.” Last month, a cataclysmic explosion rocked the port, killing 191 people and injuring more than 6,000. The port contained 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which can be used as a fertilizer or to make explosives, and was stored at the harbor for six years. Hezbollah operatives have used ammonium nitrate for terrorist plots in France, Argentina Britain, Cyprus and Bulgaria. The Iran-backed party has denied any involvement in the Beirut explosion even though Hezbollah is widely viewed as controlling Beirut’s port system, said Jerusalem Post. German paper Die Welt reported last month that the Israeli Mossad warned German authorities that Hezbollah supporters stored hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate in warehouses in southern Germany. It is unclear if Baden-Württemberg was the only southern German state to lodge the chemical. Germany designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization earlier this year.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2496146/minister-says-hezbollah-removed-stored-ammonium-nitrate-germany-2016