The IDF has revealed that the terror cell behind the placing of anti-personnel mines and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the Golan Heights is Unit 840, which is being operated by Iranian Quds forces.
Unit 840 in Syria is a relatively secretive operational unit, which is responsible, among other things, for planning and establishing terror infrastructure outside Iran against Western targets and opposition groups.
According to IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman, the anti-personnel mines discovered on Monday were planted several weeks ago by local Syrians under the command of the Iranian Quds Force.
The military, he said, has been following cells of the Quds Force for several months that have been trying to plant explosives on the border, and have been carrying out patrols – both on foot as well as by drones and reconnaissance to prevent attacks.
In response to the explosive devices, Israel carried out a wave of strikes that hit eight targets from the Golan Heights to Damascus, killing several military personnel.
The targets included an Iranian military complex near Damascus International Airport; a secret military barracks which acts as a housing complex for senior Iranian officials and visiting delegations; a command post for Division 7 of the Syrian army that cooperates with the Quds force; and mobile surface-to-air missile trucks that fired towards Israeli jets during the strikes.
In August, IDF troops from the elite Maglan reconnaissance unit foiled an attempt to place explosives along the border fence with Syria. The four-member cell was killed when the IDF force attacked them, supported by aircraft.
Following an investigation at the scene, some 25 meters from the perimeter fence inside Israeli territory, weapons and a bag containing a number of explosive devices were found. The action taken against the cell placing the explosives on the border fence was later followed by Israeli airstrikes targeting Syrian positions.
Israel has repeatedly warned against Iran’s aspirations of regional hegemony and has admitted to carrying out hundreds of airstrikes as part of its “war-between-wars” campaign (known in Hebrew as MABAM) to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the entrenchment of its forces in Syria, where they could easily act against the Jewish state.
Although Israel usually refrains from targeting terror operatives to try to avoid subsequent retaliation, some strikes ascribed to it have killed several Hezbollah operatives in southern Syria on the Golan Heights, where the group has been trying to establish a permanent military presence.
Source » jpost