Hezbollah: Israeli plane destroyed spy device

An Israeli aircraft on Monday destroyed a spy device it was using to monitor a Hezbollah communications network in south Lebanon after it was found by the group, a Lebanese security source and Hezbollah said. “The enemy today destroyed an espionage apparatus latched onto a communications network belonging to the resistance,” in the Zahrani region, members of the militant group said. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television network also reported that Israel detonated an explosive device planted on one of the “resistance’s” communication lines. A security source told AFP the Israeli warplanes destroyed the listening device “after it was detected by Hezbollah.” A similar incident occurred in December last year and again in February 2012. Israel has not commented on the claims. The area where the latest incident occurred is outside the scope of international peacekeeping forces deployed in south Lebanon. An AFP correspondent witnessed Israeli warplanes flying extensively in southern Lebanese airspace on Monday. Lebanese authorities have arrested more than 100 people on suspicion of collaborating with the Israeli spy agency Mossad since April 2009, including high-ranking security and telecommunications officials. The Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which largely controls south Lebanon, has openly accused the Jewish state of infiltrating Lebanon’s telecommunications sector.