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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Army Seizes Truck Carrying 'Obsolete' Mortars, Ammunition in Arsal |
| 2013-09-30 |
| [An Nahar] The army on Sunday announced seizing a Syria-bound truck loaded with "obsolete" ammunition in the Bekaa border town of Arsal. "The Lebanese army intercepted a truck carrying weapons at the al-Shaab checkpoint in Arsal," MTV reported. "Maher Abdullah was driving the truck which was headed for Syria," it said. Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived... Voice of Leb radio (100.5) said the vehicle was carrying 20 mortar shells. According to LBCI television, the truck came from the northern border region of Wadi Khaled. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... an army statement issued later on Sunday said troops intercepted a pickup truck driven by a Lebanese citizen and loaded with a quantity of light munitions and 82-mm mortar shells. "After being examined by a military expert, the munitions and mortars turned out to be obsolete and unusable," the statement said. "The detainee and the seized arms were referred to the relevant authorities and a probe has been launched under the supervision of the judiciary," it added. On Wednesday, the army said a Syrian man was killed and two others were maimed after troops fired on a van that failed to stop at a checkpoint in Arsal. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 I understand that the HE in munitions can get very "touchy" with age and/or poor storage. May go "boom" in the tube, bad ju-ju for the mortar crew. Bullets, not so much. Somewhat loose example is when you would find crystals on the paper and container of old dynamite. The sweat crystals are pure nitro. Best option, burn in place. Wonder how many old barns and sheds disintegrated because of that stuff. |
| Posted by: tipover 2013-09-30 20:19 |
| #4 Or they didn't spend much money on the arms they were going to put in the Decoy Truck. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2013-09-30 11:40 |
| #3 Or it was an attempt to pass off junk munitions. Not the first time it's happened in arms dealing. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-09-30 10:57 |
| #2 "After being examined by a military expert, the munitions and mortars turned out to be obsolete and unusable," the statement said. No Chinese or Russian Mortar expert here, but the High Explosives (HE) inside the munitions might still be usable. If not, the HE could be removed from the casings and replaced with Homemade Explosives (HME) which makes an excellent shrapnel charge for an roadside IED. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-09-30 07:55 |
| #1 I have a little 1918 vintage .45 ACP - surprisingly, it is still usable, mostly. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2013-09-30 07:45 |