Hezbollah recently released a new video showing its own “special forces.”
The video shows fighters in the snow, well kitted in white uniforms and equipped with sophisticated hand guns and assault riffles such as the PKM, AK-74, AK-74M, MP-446 Viking, HS-9, etc.
Hezbollah were as flamboyant as usual, dressed in white military uniforms and participating in confidence drills.
Experts say that photos and videos of Hezbollah militants have been disseminated on the internet for propaganda reasons to show how the organisation now has better-equipped and trained personnel at its disposal than in the past.
The fighters are dressed in basic white masked uniforms, boots, and body armor that are comparable to those worn by special forces around the world.
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A Western weapons expert who writes anonymously on Twitter under the pseudonym of Calibre Obscura said most of the accessories used by the fighters in the propaganda video are produced in Israel and are readily available in Iraqi and Syrian markets.
He wrote;
“Some more; handguns, another AK-74, amusingly w/ Israeli accessories (FAB Defense PDC rail, UAS-AK stock…) Otherwise CompM4s RDS, etc.
“Pretty kitted, but all of this is available from Iraqi/Syrian markets. Style is a pretty standard Hezb merger of RuOF and MENA showoff stuff.”
Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant organisation established in Lebanon, where it gained a reputation as “a state within a state” due to its large security system, political organization, and social services network.
The Iran-backed organisation, which was founded in the chaos of the fifteen-year Lebanese Civil War, is motivated by its antagonism to Israel and resistance to Western hegemony in the Middle East.
Parts of Hezbollah, and in some cases the entire organization, have been labeled as terrorist groups by the United States and many other nations due to its history of carrying out global terrorist activities.
Long-standing connections with Iran and Syria have ensnared Hezbollah in the Syrian civil war, where its support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime has transformed the organisation into a more powerful military force.
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However, as Lebanon’s power brokers face popular discontent as the country teeters on the brink of collapse, the group’s role in Lebanon may shift.
Hassan Nasrallah is the current leader of the group, having taken over as secretary-general after Israel assassinated the group’s founding and former leader, Abbas Al-Musawi, in 1992.
Nasrallah is in charge of the Shura Council, which has seven members and five subcouncils: the political assembly, jihad assembly, parliamentary assembly, executive assembly, and judicial assembly.
Hezbollah has tens of thousands of members and supporters abroad, according to the US State Department.
Much of Lebanon’s Shiite-majority territories are under Hezbollah’s control, including parts of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley region.
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Although Hezbollah is based in Lebanon, its manifesto makes it clear that its operations, particularly those targeting the US, are not limited by national borders: “The American threat is not local or limited to a particular region, and as such, confrontation of such a threat must be international as well.”
Hezbollah has been accused of planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, including proof of its activities in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
According to 2019 State Department estimates, Iran provides Hezbollah with weapons and about $700 million each year.
Hezbollah also obtains hundreds of millions of money from the Lebanese diaspora, as well as legal businesses and worldwide criminal enterprises.
Part of this article was sourced from Council on foreign relations.
