Hezbollah leader declares his group has 100,000 fighters
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah has declared for the first time that his powerful militant group has 100,000 trained fighters
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah declared for the first time Monday that his powerful militant group has 100,000 trained fighters.
Hassan Nasrallah disclosed the size of the Shiite group’s militant arm in his first speech since seven people were killed in gunbattles on the streets of Beirut on Thursday. The confrontation erupted over a long-running probe into last year’s massive port blast in the city.
Verifying the numbers of the largely secretive militant group is difficult. If true, it would be larger than Lebanon s armed forces, estimated to at about 85,000.
Nasrallah's speech comes at a time of heightened tension in Lebanon over the clashes and the course of the investigation into the Aug. 4, 2020 blast in which over 215 people were killed.
Hezbollah and its allies have criticized the judge leading the investigation, asking that he be removed. The violence Thursday came as officials from Hezbollah have suggested the judge’s investigation is leaning toward holding them responsible for the gigantic explosion.
Thursday’s clashes saw gunmen battling each other for several hours with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in the streets of Beirut. It was the most violent confrontation in the city in years, echoing the nation’s darkest era of the 1975-90 civil war.
In his speech, Nasrallah accused the head of a right-wing Christian party of seeking to ignite civil war in the small country. He accused Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces, of “manufacturing” Thursday's clashes in Beirut's Tayuneh area and described him as a criminal and a killer.
“The real program for the Lebanese Forces is civil war,” Nasrallah said. “The biggest threat to the social peace in Lebanon is the Lebanese Forces.”
Addressing Geagea, Nasrallah said: “Don’t miscalculate. Be wise and be polite and take a lesson from all your wars and all our wars.”
There was no immediate comment from Geagea.
Nasrallah claimed Geagea and his party have sought to scare Lebanon’s Christians over Hezbollah’s intentions, mostly to serve foreign countries that have also made the Shiite group an enemy, including the United States, Israel and some Gulf states.
Geagea is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which is critical of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Geagea led the Lebanese Forces Christian militia during the 1975-90 civil war and spent more than a decade in prison. He was released after an amnesty following Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005. The anti-Syria Geagea now leads the Lebanese Forces political party.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.