Lebanese authorities have seized 20 mt of ammonium nitrate (AN) near a fertilizer warehouse in the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley, The Arab Weekly reported on Sept. 18, citing the state media.
The area is considered to be a hub for smuggling operations between Lebanon and Syria, according to the report.
The AN was taken from a truck parked at the warehouse. The fertilizer company, which has not been named publicly pending investigations, said the AN was intended for agricultural use.
Lebanese authorities are still investigating the circumstances in which AN was involved in a deadly explosion in a Beirut warehouse in August 2020, leveling swaths of the Lebanese capital and killing 218 people and injuring more than 5,000 (GM Aug. 6, p. 39; Aug. 7, 2020).