Hezbollah, fighting techniques and tactics
I apologize for the long read, but it is pretty informative...
For more than six years, this Shiite Islamic group has been
preparing for such a confrontation with Israel.
It was greatly helped by Iran in terms of weapons, missiles of all
ranges and ammunition whereas Syria, which controlled the country
for five of the six years, helped logistically and by turning a
blind eye as to weapons movements.
But how are they organized, what makes them so efficient…to start
of, it is important to stress that they do not operate as a regular
army does. Their fighting is mostly Guerilla style fighting… or
rather a “modernized” Guerilla style.
Firstly there are four levels of personnel in the militia, two
fighting and two reserves:
The Elite fighters, these are trained veterans with years of
exposure and multiple training tours in both Iran and Syria. There
are rumors that some of these participated in the latest Iraki
fights under Moktada el Sader’s command.
The “normal” sodiers: these are regular fighters with little or no
fighting experience. They are usually in charge of logistic
operations and other day to day activities and also participate in
combats.
Reserve level one, are those that have finished their military
training with the militia after their National Military Service at
most three years ago. These are considered as still “fresh” in the
sense that the training required to get them back into fighting
level is minimal. Strictly logistics and information gathering.
Very rarely put in combat situations.
Reserve level two, are those who have finished their military
service for more than three years.
It is important to note that both reserve levels undergo regular
“refresh” training sessions for periods of one to three months.
Set aside from the four levels above is the suicide squad. Very
little is known about the members in this squad since it is kept
very hush hush. Since they have little training to do (for obvious
reasons) they spend their time in prayers and contemplation.
Currently active in the war are the first three levels of fighters.
How do they operate?
Hezbollah have perfected the tactic of hit and run which makes it
very hard for the Israelis, using traditional warfare techniques, to
target them. They work in groups of five to six “elements” and each
group is totally independent from the next group. Each has a general
set of directives and most make their “plan d’action” as they go.
This way, they are able to operate in the event of total loss of
communication with the commanding base and there is no risk of
anyone eavesdropping on conversations. And should anyone fall
prisoner in the hands of the Israelis, he can only give out the
plans of his group.
Each group travels using Cross bikes…this gives them flexibility as
well as manageability on the terrain. Armed with light assault
rifles and submachine guns and state of the art Chinese anti tank
grenade propellers supplied by Iran, they are able to inflict severe
damage to the opponent whilst sustaining minimal damage.
An example of how they operate can be given by the way they fire
missiles, three bikes are used to perform the action:
1- One person stays at a distance providing surveillance and looking
out for apache helicopters or spy planes
2- One group, on a bike, set up the launcher platform, without the
missile. Total time: 5 seconds and they drive off.
3- One group delivers the missile and leaves. Total time 3 seconds.
4- One group sets the missile, fires it and leaves. Total time 10 to
20 seconds.
5- The first group comes back to collect the launch pad, if the
observer informs them that all is clear, and replaces it in a
subterranean hideout, to be used in the next operation.
All the groups leave in totally different directions.
The bikes are also used to lure the tanks into ambushes set up for
them by fighters hiding in tunnels. The same tunnels are used to
move between villages undetected and be able to surprise the enemy
which relies on aerial images of the fight zone.
This fighting technique has caused great damage to the Israelis in
their advance in South Lebanon.
It was observed that the only way the Israelis can counter it is by
applying the charred land approach whereby any incursion should be
preceded by heavy bombardment of the region by fighter planes,
followed by a fine combing using heavy machine guns and helicopters
before the infantry troops finally walk in.
Since the guerilla fighters hide between civilians, and operate from
within inhabited or industrial areas, they greatly benefit from the
coverage and lure IAF planes into bombarding civilians and factories
which allows the Hezb to use the media coverage to its benefit.
Israel has had to resort to expelling all the inhabitants of the
region out of the area and even beyond the traditional headquarters
of Hezbollah namely southern suburbs of Beirut so as to minimize
civilian causalities as well as any supportive action the Party of
God can benefit from.
got it from a lebanese source,but could well have originated from the Israeli Intelligence.
I apologize for the long read, but it is pretty informative...
For more than six years, this Shiite Islamic group has been
preparing for such a confrontation with Israel.
It was greatly helped by Iran in terms of weapons, missiles of all
ranges and ammunition whereas Syria, which controlled the country
for five of the six years, helped logistically and by turning a
blind eye as to weapons movements.
But how are they organized, what makes them so efficient…to start
of, it is important to stress that they do not operate as a regular
army does. Their fighting is mostly Guerilla style fighting… or
rather a “modernized” Guerilla style.
Firstly there are four levels of personnel in the militia, two
fighting and two reserves:
The Elite fighters, these are trained veterans with years of
exposure and multiple training tours in both Iran and Syria. There
are rumors that some of these participated in the latest Iraki
fights under Moktada el Sader’s command.
The “normal” sodiers: these are regular fighters with little or no
fighting experience. They are usually in charge of logistic
operations and other day to day activities and also participate in
combats.
Reserve level one, are those that have finished their military
training with the militia after their National Military Service at
most three years ago. These are considered as still “fresh” in the
sense that the training required to get them back into fighting
level is minimal. Strictly logistics and information gathering.
Very rarely put in combat situations.
Reserve level two, are those who have finished their military
service for more than three years.
It is important to note that both reserve levels undergo regular
“refresh” training sessions for periods of one to three months.
Set aside from the four levels above is the suicide squad. Very
little is known about the members in this squad since it is kept
very hush hush. Since they have little training to do (for obvious
reasons) they spend their time in prayers and contemplation.
Currently active in the war are the first three levels of fighters.
How do they operate?
Hezbollah have perfected the tactic of hit and run which makes it
very hard for the Israelis, using traditional warfare techniques, to
target them. They work in groups of five to six “elements” and each
group is totally independent from the next group. Each has a general
set of directives and most make their “plan d’action” as they go.
This way, they are able to operate in the event of total loss of
communication with the commanding base and there is no risk of
anyone eavesdropping on conversations. And should anyone fall
prisoner in the hands of the Israelis, he can only give out the
plans of his group.
Each group travels using Cross bikes…this gives them flexibility as
well as manageability on the terrain. Armed with light assault
rifles and submachine guns and state of the art Chinese anti tank
grenade propellers supplied by Iran, they are able to inflict severe
damage to the opponent whilst sustaining minimal damage.
An example of how they operate can be given by the way they fire
missiles, three bikes are used to perform the action:
1- One person stays at a distance providing surveillance and looking
out for apache helicopters or spy planes
2- One group, on a bike, set up the launcher platform, without the
missile. Total time: 5 seconds and they drive off.
3- One group delivers the missile and leaves. Total time 3 seconds.
4- One group sets the missile, fires it and leaves. Total time 10 to
20 seconds.
5- The first group comes back to collect the launch pad, if the
observer informs them that all is clear, and replaces it in a
subterranean hideout, to be used in the next operation.
All the groups leave in totally different directions.
The bikes are also used to lure the tanks into ambushes set up for
them by fighters hiding in tunnels. The same tunnels are used to
move between villages undetected and be able to surprise the enemy
which relies on aerial images of the fight zone.
This fighting technique has caused great damage to the Israelis in
their advance in South Lebanon.
It was observed that the only way the Israelis can counter it is by
applying the charred land approach whereby any incursion should be
preceded by heavy bombardment of the region by fighter planes,
followed by a fine combing using heavy machine guns and helicopters
before the infantry troops finally walk in.
Since the guerilla fighters hide between civilians, and operate from
within inhabited or industrial areas, they greatly benefit from the
coverage and lure IAF planes into bombarding civilians and factories
which allows the Hezb to use the media coverage to its benefit.
Israel has had to resort to expelling all the inhabitants of the
region out of the area and even beyond the traditional headquarters
of Hezbollah namely southern suburbs of Beirut so as to minimize
civilian causalities as well as any supportive action the Party of
God can benefit from.
got it from a lebanese source,but could well have originated from the Israeli Intelligence.
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