Screengrab, via Twitter.
Hezbollah reportedly showcased the Chinese-made GBP12 man-portable mine clearing system for the first during a recent military exercise.
The exercise was held at a camp near the Tourist Landmark of the Resistance in the southern Lebanese town of Mleeta on May 21 to celebrate the Resistance and Liberation Day.
The GBP12 consists of a rocket booster linked to a line explosive charge. The man-portable system weighs just 15,5 kg and is contained within a hardshell backpack. A single charge can open a 20-meter-long and 9-meter-wide path.
Video footage that surfaced online after the exercise showed the firing of three BGP12 line charges to open a route in a supposed enemy minefield. Some Hezbollah activists argued that the footage were not from the exercise, but rather from China. However, a search online failed to prove this, which suggest that the footage may have been mistakenly leaked by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah showed several other weapons during the exercise, including multiple rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles, man-portable air defense systems and drones.
The public exercise was organized to send a message to Israel, according to Hezbollah’s media relations official, Muhammad Afif. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) responded a day later by dropping leaflets over southern Lebanon warning against any movement near the front.
Hezbollah has always portrayed itself as a Lebanese defensive force. However, after the war of 2006, the group’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel with an offensive to take over the Galilee region, which lies between Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, on multiple occasions.
The acquisition of mine-clearing systems like the GBP12 shows that Hezbollah is serious with its threats. The system may have been supplied by the group’s main ally Iran, who maintains a level of military cooperation with China.
Tel Aviv is not taking Hezbollah’s threats lightly. A few years ago, the IDF launched Operation Northern Shield to detect and destroy the group’s offensive tunnels along the front with Lebanon.
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