IDF, embassies on alert for Mughniyeh killing anniversary

Military "keeping an open eye" along northern border ahed of third anniversary of assassination of Hizbullah arch-terrorist.

By YAAKOV KATZ
imad mughniyeh_311 (photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
imad mughniyeh_311
(photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The IDF is stepping up its vigilance along the northern border and Israeli embassies will go on high alert this weekend ahead of the third anniversary of the assassination of Hizbullah arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh.
Mughniyeh was killed by a car bomb in Damascus on February 12, 2008. He was Hizbullah’s chief of military operations and its liaison with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. He was killed as he made his way to a celebration at the Iranian cultural center in the Syrian capital. Hizbullah and the Iranians blame the Mossad for his death.
Hizbullah vowed to avenge his assassination and has reportedly tried to do so several times.
Hizbullah has in the past struck at Israeli and Jewish targets abroad, including the 1994 bombing of the Israelite Mutual Association community center building in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, and the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in the same city that killed 29.
Defense officials said on Thursday that the IDF was “keeping an eye open” along the Lebanese border but that there was no indication that Hizbullah was planning an attack over the weekend.
In recent years, the security services have warned dozens of Israeli businessmen around the world of possible Hizbullah plans to kidnap them in retaliation for Mughniyeh’s death.
The Counter Terrorism Bureau on Friday issued a travel advisory for all Israelis due to the anniversary of the assassination.
The advisory warned against traveling to Egypt, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, the Ivory Coast Mali, Mauritania and Venezuela.
The advisory warned against traveling to these locations in the imminent future and to particularly refrain from gathering in places with large groups of Israelis.