Hezbollah: Now, Russia’s Wagner Group may arm the Iran-supported outfit with advanced missiles
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Iran and Russia are likely to unofficially enter the Hamas-Israel war through their proxies–Hezbollah and the Wagner militia–to expand the Middle East conflict into a wider area.
Ever since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24, 2022, the US-led West has been arming and funding the war-torn Ukraine to prolong the war. Now, Russia’s unofficial militia, Wagner Group, could arm the Iran-supported Hezbollah in Lebanon with advanced missiles to fire at Israel which is currently engaged in a fierce conflict against terror outfit Hamas in the Palestinian territory, Gaza Strip, for three weeks now.
Nearly 10,000 people have died so far on both sides since October 7 and thousands of others wounded in a war that has turned large parts of the Gaza Strip into heaps of rubble because of Israel’s counter-offensive.
According to the media reports on Saturday, the Russian-made SA-22 advanced missiles system, also known as Pantsir-S1 which is a truck-mounted surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft artillery system, would enable Hezbollah to support Hamas and attack Israel more fiercely.
In June 2023, the Wagner Group, raised unofficially by Moscow to fight unofficial wars in the Middle East and Africa, had briefly rebelled against some Russian generals who, they suspected, did not fight the Russian war in Ukraine sincerely. The militia leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, once a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, subsequently died in mysterious circumstances. Despite reports that Moscow could disband the ‘private army’, comprising mostly of criminals, it shifted base next door to Belarus, a pro-Russian country.
The US Intelligence has learned that Russia’s Wagner Group is preparing to deliver an advanced air defense missile system to Hezbollah following the Lebanese militia group’s clashes with Israel, reported the New York Post.
The US officials are currently monitoring discussions between the Wagner mercenary group and Lebanon’s Hamas-supporting Hezbollah on the possible delivery of the SA-22. This system uses anti-aircraft missiles and guns to combat airstrikes.
This weapon was also used in the Russian-Ukraine war and could be deployed in the Middle East by the Iran-backed militia group against Israel’s airstrikes as this conflict has now reached the Israel-Lebanon border.
However, it is still unclear if the weapon could be transported from Lebanon to Gaza to help Hamas in fighting against Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza.
The Russian officials did not comment on the alleged discussion between Wagner and Hezbollah yet.
Meanwhile, the US had, soon after the Hamas-Israel war broke out last month, stationed two large aircraft carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean to hinder Hezbollah from joining Hamas in attacking Israel.
As Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7 as Hamas attacked the country by firing rockets, US President Joe Biden warned outside parties from staging an assault on Israel’s borders.
However, despite the warning, the heads of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad met last week to announce their united war against Israel, the New York Post reported.
The trio of terrorist leaders — dubbed the “axis of resistance” — met to set a goal for achieving “a real victory for the resistance in Gaza and Palestine” and halt Israel’s “treacherous and brutal aggression against our oppressed and steadfast people in Gaza and the West Bank,” a statement said.
