Shafaq News- Baghdad
A shipment of weapons, missiles, and drones crossed from Iraq into Syriahidden inside an oil tanker declared as heavy fuel oil before Syrianauthorities seized it and said the cargo was bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
: Syria seizes Hezbollah-bound weapons at Iraqi border
A senior Iraqi security source told Shafaq News the tanker left Iraqiterritory by land about nine days earlier, its opening closed and fully sealedby customs, with instructions not to open it before reaching its finaldestination, ostensibly to avoid having the shipment rejected by the receivingstate.
The tanker crossed the border through the al-Tanf crossing, according tothe source, “exploiting the absence of specialized sonar equipment capable ofdetecting weapons or prohibited materials inside liquid tankers at thecrossing.” The weapons also evaded K9 police dogs because they had been wrappedin insulating bags and submerged in dense heavy fuel oil to make detection moredifficult.
The tanker cleared the Iraqi side but was found, upon inspection on theSyrian side, to be loaded with large quantities of weapons, missiles, anddrones concealed “professionally to disguise the cargo and evade monitoring,”according to the account.
The source described the operation as a "serious securitybreach" requiring an urgent investigation to determine the circumstancesof the incident, hold negligent parties accountable, and strengthen inspectionand monitoring at border crossings, given the risk to the country's securityand the reputation of its crossings.