Nigerian military claim to have discovered Hizbollah arms cache

Soldiers in northern Nigeria have uncovered a hidden arms cache that authorities there believe belonged to members of the Lebanese militant movement Hizbollah.

 

Military officials stand near ammunitions seized from suspected members of Hezbollah after a raid of a building in Nigeria's northern city of Kano. 

 

Officials showed journalists the weapons, which they said soldiers confiscated from under the master bedroom of a home in Kano, the north's largest city. The weapons had been packed into small coolers and concealed under several layers of concrete, the military said in a statement.

The arms, later shown on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority, appeared to include badly corroded rocket-propelled grenades, landmines, hand grenades, assault rifles and magazines. Some of the weapons appeared to have been charred.

The military did not explain why the men held the weapons, other than to say they were part of Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim political party.

"The arms and ammunition were targeted at facilities of Israel and Western interest in Nigeria, however, the security agencies are making frantic efforts to unveil the true situation," the military's statement read. "At the end of investigation, all those involved will be prosecuted."

The military did not say which targets had been chosen to be attacked. They said three Lebanese men had been arrested, including one who was caught at Kano's international airport trying to board a flight to Beirut carrying some $60,000 (£39,400) in cash.