A new report has surfaced in which more than one dozen CIA spies are said to have been captured by Hezbollah officials operating in Lebanon and Iran.
According to reports the CIA “spies” were paid informants who were operating in two distinct espionage rings that targeted operations in Iran and Beirut.
Speaking to ABC News one U.S. official confirmed the loss of various spied and added:
“Espionage is a risky business” and “Many risks lead to wins, but some result in occasional setbacks.”
The spies were being used specifically to track the Iranian nuclear program while documenting the intentions of Hezbollah actions against Israel.
Speaking about the importance of tracking Hezbollah a U.S. official told ABC News:
“Remember, this group was responsible for killing more Americans than any other terrorist group before 9/11.”
In the meantime some officials are pointing the blame for the CIA’s failure to protect their spies on sloppy procedures that allowed identities to be revealed.
News of captured CIA spies is hardly a new revelation, in June Hezbollah leader Sheik Nassah Nasrallah said on national television that two CIA spies had been found within his ranks, although proof of those captures were never broadcast.
In explaining the reach of Hezbollah last year the State Department called the group “the most technically capable terrorist group in the world.” It’s believed that the terrorist group receives between $100 million and $200 million per year in funding from Iran. According to reports Hezbollah in 2010 began using the best in commercial software to hunt down spies in their ranks digitally. The software searched for anamolies in cellphone data such as devices that were used only for short periods of time or always in the same exact location. The terrorist group has also been steadily picking up the pace when it comes to “old-fashioned detective work.”
