From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Jul 30 2005 - 17:24:28 EDT
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Excerpt: "In some instances, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has
learned of weapons that came from Yemen and Eritrea, were moved to
Sudan, then north to Egypt, and finally smuggled into Gaza."
Latest rockets manufactured in China
By YAAKOV KATZ
Jan 1, 2009 1:13 | Updated Jan 1, 2009 11:15
The Grad-model Katyusha rockets that were fired into Beersheba on
Wednesday were manufactured in China and smuggled into Gaza after the
Sinai border wall was blown up by Hamas in January, defense officials
said.
The Chinese rockets have a range of 40 kilometers. They are very similar
to the 122 mm Soviet-made Katyusha that was used extensively by
Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War and are slightly more
sophisticated than an Iranian-made Grad-model Katyusha that is also in
Hamas's arsenal.
The four rockets that hit Beersheba this week were filled with metal
balls that can scatter up to 100 meters from the impact site, officials
said. These rockets have also been fired into Ashkelon and Ashdod.
The three countries that manufacture Grad-model Katyushas are China,
Russia and Bulgaria.
Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post the rockets were smuggled into
Gaza in the 12 days after Hamas blew a hole in the border wall between
Gaza and Egypt on January 23.
"Huge quantities of weaponry were smuggled into Gaza then from above
ground, including the Grad rockets," an official said, adding that even
after the border wall was sealed, Hamas continued to smuggle the
long-range rockets into Gaza via tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor.
>From China, the rockets make several stops before reaching Gaza. In many
cases, officials said, they are bought by Iran or Hizbullah and then
transferred to Sinai.
In some instances, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has learned of
weapons that came from Yemen and Eritrea, were moved to Sudan, then
north to Egypt, and finally smuggled into Gaza.
"This is a complicated smuggling system that involves many different
people around the world," one official said.
The Grad-model Katyushas, officials said, were packed with large
quantities of ammonia and less-than-maximum explosives to increase their
durability and lethality.
Last Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni that Cairo was not responsible for Hamas's military
buildup and that the long-range rockets in the group's arsenal were not
smuggled through the tunnels from Sinai.
Defense officials said Wednesday that Aboul Gheit was partially correct,
in that some of the rockets did not come into Gaza through tunnels, but
that they did enter the Strip from Sinai.
<http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733119975&pagename=JPost
%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull>
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733119975&pagename=JPost%
2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----