6 Lebanese soldiers killed in blast while seizing munitions from Hezbollah site

By AFP 9 August 2025, 3:31 pm

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Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group block the streets with burning tires as they rally in cars and motorbikes to protest the government's endorsement of a plan to disarm it, in Beirut's southern suburbs, early on August 8, 2025. (Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s army says a blast at a weapons depot near the Israeli border today killed six soldiers as a military source said troops were removing munitions from a Hezbollah facility.

An army statement gives a preliminary toll of six soldiers killed and others wounded “while an army unit was inspecting a weapons depot and dismantling its contents in Wadi Zibqin,” in the Tyre district near the Israeli border.

Investigations were underway to determine the cause of the blast, it adds.

A military source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media, tells AFP the blast took place “inside a Hezbollah military facility.”

Troops were “removing munitions and unexploded ordnance left over from the recent war” between Israel and Hezbollah when the blast occurred, the source adds.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun says he was informed by army commander Rodolphe Haykal of the “painful incident” that led to troop casualties.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pays tribute on X to the troops who were killed “while performing their national duty,” calling the army the protector of Lebanon’s “unity and its legitimate institutions.”