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Hizbullah recruited nearly 1,000 Al Qaida-aligned Sunnis to fight Israel in the war in Lebanon in mid-2006.
A United Nations report said at least 720 Sunnis from Somalia were recruited by Hizbullah to fight Israel in the 34-day war that ended on August 14. The report said Hizbullah brought the insurgents to Lebanon in July 2006 at the start of the war.
“In exchange for the contribution of the Somali military force, Hizbullah arranged for additional support to be given by the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic, which was subsequently provided,” the report said.
The 86-page report provided details of Hizbullah’s relationship with Al Qaida-aligned Sunni insurgency groups in the war against Israel. The report said the Somalis were paid at least $2,000 each to fight in Lebanon.
The families of Somalis killed in the war were given as much as $30,000 each. The report said financing came from Hizbullah’s patron, Iran, as well as other Middle East states.
Israel has never reported the use of non-Lebanese Sunnis to fight Israel. The military reported the deployment of hundreds of soldiers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the war.
On July 27, the UN said, Hizbullah sent 200 Somali fighters from Lebanon to Syria. The report said the Hizbullah fighters received training in Syria.
The report, scheduled to be discussed on November 17 by the Security Council, asserted that Egypt and Syria have also aided Somali fighters. The UN has sought to maintain an arms embargo on Mogadishu since 1992.
Hizbullah provided training to the Somalis, the UN said. The report, authored by four experts, also said Iran tried to obtain uranium from Somalia in exchange for weapons.
“At the time of the writing of this report, there were two Iranians in Dusa Mareb engaged on matters linked to the exploration of uranium in exchange for arms,” the report, dated October 16, said.
The UN said the leader of the Al Qaida-aligned Council of Islamic Courts, Aden Hashi Farah, selected about 720 experienced fighters in mid-July 2006. The report said the Somalis traveled to Lebanon where they fought alongside Hizbullah.
In September, Farah ordered at least 100 Somalis to return from Lebanon, accompanied by five Hizbullah operatives. The rest of the Somali contingent stayed in Lebanon and received advanced training.
The report said Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria were also supplying Al Qaida-aligned forces in Somalia. The UN report said the Somalis have received anti-aircraft missiles, grenade launchers and other advanced weapons.
