The CIA and the Mossad collaborated in the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, the top Hezbollah operations officer blamed for an array of terrorist attacks, according to two in-depth reports.
The Washington Post and Newsweek, in the reports published last weekend, revealed the extent of the cooperation ahead of the Feb. 12, 2008 killing in Damascus. The cooperation included a long period of both agencies tracking Mughniyeh in the Syrian capital, where he kept a secret residence.
The CIA built the explosive device, hidden in the spare tire of an SUV, and the Mossad detonated it long distance from Israel, the reports said.
Mughniyeh is believed to be behind, among other terror incidents, attacks on U.S. and French military targets in Beirut in 1983 that killed 299 people, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killing. A number of retaliatory actions since then have failed, and in recent weeks Hezbollah arrested an alleged spy in its upper ranks who was feeding Israel information about the planned attacks. — jta