Argentina has identified the Hezbollah agent behind the 1992 Israeli embassy bombing and the 1994 AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) bombing, describing him as a terrorist who continues to operate underground with the support of ‘dictator’ governments to spread terror across South America.
The Hezbollah operative is identified as Hussein Ahmad Karaki, Argentina’s defence minister said releasing a picture and information of the agent.
“Today we put a name, surname and face to the brain and head of Hezbollah in Latin America: Hussein Ahmad Karaki. One of those responsible for the attack on the Israeli embassy in our country and at least three attempted attacks in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in recent years,” defence minister Patricia Bullrich said.
Ahmad Karaki had allegedly been working underground since the 1990s with false names and documents. Karaki reportedly recruited many Hezbollah operatives and planned several terrorist actions. He was believed to be in the Argentine capital, Buneos Aries, in 1992, and left the country on a Colombian passport hours before the embassy bombings.
According to the minister, Karaki is still active and was involved in attacks in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in recent years.
“Until now he was a ghost, working underground since the 1990s with false names and documents and with the help of dictatorships. We are going to request a red alert for this criminal who is in Lebanon,” the Argentinian defence minister said.
A joint investigation with Brazil and Paraguay said that Hussein Ahmad Karaki is the “operational head” of the extremist Islamic group Hezbollah in Latin America, according to a CNN report. The report also quoted the defence minister as claiming the terrorist attack on the embassy of having happened directly under the orders of Hassan Nasrallah, who was recently killed in an Israeli operation.
The national court of Argentina held the Iran and Hezbollah responsible for the attacks. In the AMIA case, it was concluded that one of the motivations was connected to then-President Carlos Menem’s foreign policy, which aligned with the United States and Israel.
In 1992, a bomb attack targeted the Israeli embassy that reportedly left 29 dead. Just two years later, a truck packed with explosives struck the AMIA Jewish center, causing 85 deaths and injuring 300 people. While the 1994 attack remains unclaimed and unsolved, Argentina and Israel have consistently pinned blame on the Hezbollah executed the assault at Iran’s behest.