Six Lebanese soldiers were killed on August 9 in a powerful explosion in the Zebqine valley near Majdel Zoun, in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district.
While initial reports pointed to an accidental explosion, a U.S. intelligence source said that contacts within the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) confirmed the unit “was led into a trap,” and that Hezbollah deliberately detonated the depot as the soldiers began dismantling it.
The findings of the official army investigation—still ongoing—have yet to be released.
The soldiers, members of the Lebanese Army’s Engineering Unit, were dismantling an ammunition depot alongside the Fifth Brigade when the site suddenly detonated.
The blast came just days after the Cabinet tasked the army with drafting a plan to disarm Hezbollah and other armed groups—a move fiercely opposed by the Iran-backed faction.
However, sources close to the LAF insisted the incident would not deter the army from continuing its mission to dismantle Hezbollah’s networks and move forward with the disarmament plan.
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