Did Hizbullah have a Syrian tank?

Armored Brigade 7 deputy commander tells 'Post' tank was used for storage, means of cover.

By YAAKOV KATZ
captured Hiz weapons 298 (photo credit: IDF)
captured Hiz weapons 298
(photo credit: IDF)
During the Lebanon war last summer, the IDF encountered a Hizbullah guerrilla force armed head-to-toe with advanced weaponry supplied by Syria and Iran. At one point during the war, the IDF even opened up its warehouses to show the weapons it had captured. There were missile launchers with Syrian markings and antitank missiles supplied by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. But according to Maj. Yigal Averson, deputy commander of a battalion of Armored Brigade 7, he also encountered a Syrian tank being used by Hizbullah. Averson, who led his troops during the 33-day war inside Lebanon, told The Jerusalem Post this week that one of his greatest disappointments was that he did not blow up that tank. "During the war, we reached the village of Kila and saw a Syrian tank being used by Hizbullah," he recalled. He expressed his frustration that he did not order his soldiers, trained explosives experts, to destroy it. According to Averson, the tank was made in Syria and was incapable of firing shells. He said it was able to move around and was used by Hizbullah for storage and as a means of cover and protection. Northern Command sources said they were surprised by Averson's description of a Hizbullah tank. They said they had never heard of armored vehicles being in Hizbullah's hands.