The bomb Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week was an American-made guided weapon, a US senator said on Sunday.
Mark Kelly, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on aviation, said Israel used a 2,000 lb (900 kg) Mark 84 series bomb during an interview with NBC. His statement marked the first US indication of what weapon was used.
“We’re seeing more use of guided munitions, JDAM, and we’re continuing to provide those weapons,” Kelly said, using an acronym that stands for Joint Direct Attack Munitions. “This 2,000-pound bomb that was used, it’s a Mark 84 series bomb, to take out Nasrallah,” he said.
Israel’s military said Saturday it had eliminated Nasrallah in a strike on the group’s central command headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The Israeli military declined to comment on what weapon was used in the attack. The Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.
JDAMs convert a standard unguided bomb using fins and a GPS guidance system into a guided weapon. The US is Israel’s longtime ally and largest arms supplier.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated channel.)
