DATE STARTED/FIRST ACTIVE: Unknown.
GOALS: Increasing its political power in Lebanon, and opposing Israel and the Middle East peace negotiations.
MAIN ANTI-U.S. ACTIVITIES TO DATE: Known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-U.S. terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombing of the U.S. embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983, and the U.S. embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984.
STRENGTH: Several thousand supporters and a few hundred terrorist operatives.
http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/terrorist-groups.cfm
OPERATIONAL LOCATIONS: Operates in the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. Has established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.
AFFILIATIONS: Receives substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran and Syria.
COMMENTS: A radical Shia organization founded in Lebanon. A Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listed as "active" during 2000.
