Report: 2008 Mughniyeh hit was joint CIA-Mossad operation

The late Hezbollah international operations chief Imad Mughniyeh

Πηγή: Israel Hayom
Feb 1 2015

Washington Post: CIA and Mossad worked together to kill Hezbollah's international operations chief Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in February 2008 • According to report, CIA spotters were watching Mughniyeh when Mossad detonated bomb that killed him.

The 2008 killing of Hezbollah's international operations chief Imad Mughniyeh was a joint CIA-Mossad operation, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Mughniyeh was killed on February 12, 2008 in Damascus, Syria by a bomb planted in a vehicle that was detonated as he passed by on foot. Hezbollah blamed Israel for Mughniyeh's death and vowed revenge. Israel never officially confirmed or denied its involvement in Mughniyeh's death.

According to the Washington Post report, the bomb that killed Mughniyeh was detonated remotely by Mossad agents in Tel Aviv, who were in communication with CIA spotters on the ground in Damascus. The U.S. reportedly helped build the bomb, which was tested numerous times at a CIA facility in North Carolina to make sure the potential blast area was limited, which would keep collateral damage to a minimum.

Former U.S. officials cited in the report said Mughniyeh was directly connected to the arming and training of Shiite militias in Iraq that were targeting U.S. forces.

According to the report, the authority to kill Mughniyeh required a presidential finding by then-President George W. Bush. A former U.S. intelligence official said the attorney general, the director of national intelligence, the national security adviser and the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department signed off on the operation.

Former U.S. officials told The Washington Post that the CIA and Mossad worked together to monitor Mughniyeh's movements in Damascus for months ahead of the killing.

The CIA declined to comment on the Washington Post report.