'Hezbollah attack 'already in motion,' officials warn'

Officials in J'lem say Mughniyeh revenge attack could strike Israelis overseas in immediate future, Channel 2 reports; Talal Hamia named as Hezbollah commander charged with carrying out attack.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Hezbollah Imad Mughniyeh 311 (R) (photo credit: Reuters)
Hezbollah Imad Mughniyeh 311 (R)
(photo credit: Reuters)
Security officials in Jerusalem Thursday warned of Hezbollah terrorist attacks against Israeli targets overseas, saying that "a planned attack is already in motion," Channel 2 reported.
The officials pointed to Hezbollah's strong desire to avenge the death of Hezbollah's chief of military operations Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in Damascus in 2008. According to the report, the urgency of the new terror warning was related to the anniversary of Mughniyeh's death.
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While Hezbollah's unit responsible for carrying out terror attacks overseas is not necessarily a large group, they are considered to be very dangerous and very effective, long having striven to carry out a revenge attack for Mughniyeh.
According to the report, the organization is not planning an attack so large that it would lead to another war with Israel, but officials warned that it would try and orchestrate a hard hit on overseas Israeli targets in the immediate future.
Since immediately after Mughniyeh was killed in 2008, Hizbullah vowed to avenge his assassination and has reportedly tried to do so several times. The group's plans to stage powerful and painful attacks were thwarted by security services worldwide, including in Baku, Thailand in 2008, in the Sinai Peninsula in 2008, and in Turkey in 2009, Channel 2 reported.
Talal Hamia, the Hezbollah commander charged with carrying out the "Mughniyeh revenge" was involved in the 1992 bombings in Buenos Aires, Argentina that targeted Jewish centers and the Israeli embassy.
Hezbollah is not acting alone, however. According to the report, surrounding the Shi'ite group's agents are several people tied to Iran who are experts in forging passports and other documents.
In February, The Counter-terrorism Bureau issued a warning that advised 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.
The current threat did not specify any particular target or region.