Un gaping hole which plunges several tens of meters underground in the middle of the rubble and the facades of buildings blown away by the explosions. Five days after the Israeli bombing which killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and around twenty other members of the Shiite militia, the images and videos bear witness to the violence of the Israeli strike which targeted this district of the southern suburbs from Beirut.
The headquarters of the “party of God” was located in a bunker located below four apartment buildings, which were completely destroyed. The Lebanese authorities announced, on Sunday September 29, a provisional death toll of six deaths, which will undoubtedly be revised upwards. On Telegram, the Israeli army released a video of eight F-15 fighters carrying out the bombing. We see, under the wing of the aircraft at the time of takeoff, bombs including several BLU-109s called “bunker buster”. Upon returning from the mission, one of the F-15s is filmed landing; no more bombs are visible under its fuselage.
More than 80 bombs dropped to kill Nasrallah
These munitions are specially designed to penetrate fortified or deeply buried targets. In the case of the BLU-109, this bomb manufactured since the 1980s by the American company Lockheed Martin, 2.40 meters long, weighs 874 kg – including 240 kg of explosive charge. With its resistant envelope, it can reach a target buried up to seven meters deep.
ALSO READ Nasrallah killed, Iranian mullah is nakedIn a test video, a BLU-109 is launched at high speed against a concrete wall several meters thick. The bomb pierces without being destroyed, before exploding behind the obstacle.
According to the New York Timesmore than 80 bombs were dropped to kill Hassan Nasrallah. Several successive and repeated hits on goal were therefore necessary to destroy the buildings and “dig” the ground before finally reaching the bunker. Precision obtained thanks to JDAM kits, attached to the bombs. The American newspaper recalls that in May the Biden government suspended the delivery of 1,800 BLU-109 bombs, fearing that they would be used in Gaza.
