Hezbollah’s Unit 910, referred to as the Shadow Unit and the Black Unit, is a clandestine unit overseen by senior operative Talal Hosni Hamiyah, also known as Abu Jaafar, who is a member of the Jihad Council. The unit serves as Hezbollah’s operational branch for executing missions and terrorist activities beyond Lebanon, and is also utilized by Iran, particularly by its intelligence agency and the Quds Force of the IRGC.
Unit 910 possesses several terrorist infrastructures poised for quick execution of global attacks. The team continuously collects intelligence to be ready for the swift and violent execution of terrorist acts in diverse global contexts.
Unit 910 executed three major attacks on Israeli and Jewish entities globally.
Two were incidents in Argentina: the bombing of the Israeli embassy (1992) and the bombing of the Argentine Mutual Israelite Association (AMIA) Jewish community center building. Both revenge attacks occurred following the killing of Hezbollah commander Abbas Musawi. In 2012, Unit 910 executed a third significant assault in Burgas, Bulgaria. A terrorist detonated an explosive on a bus transporting Israeli tourists.
The first retaliatory attack for the elimination of former Hezbollah leader Musawi was carried out only a month after his death
The elimination was carried out on February 16, 1992, and the retaliatory attack on the embassy in Argentina was carried out on March 17, 1992.
At this stage, we do not know the condition of Talal Hamiyah or whether he was at Hezbollah’s main headquarters in Beirut, Haret Hreik, which was attacked on September 27. In any case, if he is still alive, he should be a priority target for elimination.
Imad Mughniyeh previously led the unit. Established in the early 1990s, the unit serves as Hezbollah’s foreign operations unit, responsible for conducting operations beyond Lebanese territory. The unit deploys its personnel in various locations across the globe.
The unit utilizes carefully selected Shiite operatives of Lebanese and non-Lebanese origin who undergo high-level security training for an extended period of time. Most of them hold various foreign citizenships and documents that help them move freely around the world.
These operatives usually operate under civilian cover that serves as an external façade for the unit’s clandestine security activity, take advantage of their connections with Hezbollah supporters in various countries, and use local Shiite networks and local criminal organizations as logistical and operational support to carry out the unit’s activities.
Unit 910 operates worldwide, including US soil
The unit places an emphasis on South America, Africa, and Asia. For the past two decades, the unit has been operating both in Europe and on American soil.
In the context of Iran’s nuclear program, Unit 910 served as Iran’s arm against the United States and its regional allies while also planning terrorist attacks in foreign countries. The unit planned future attacks on buildings belonging to American security, intelligence, and military institutions, as well as civilian targets, such as John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to American reports.
The unit’s activities in the United States:
According to an article by Dr. Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert and director of the Reinhard Counterterrorism Program at the Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, the “Black Operations” Unit was established in the United States under Hezbollah’s Unit 910, which includes sleeper cells ready to attack targets in the United States and Israel. According to Levitt, this unit has also operated in recent years in the so-called “shadow war” waged by Iran against the West over the Iranian nuclear program.
Ali Kurani, a Hezbollah operative detained in the United States, said that the “black operations” unit was a secret unit established after the elimination of Mughniyeh in 2008, reported directly to Nasrallah and received direct orders from him and Tehran.
Kurani’s mission in the United States was to carry out surveillance operations and locate people capable of supplying Hezbollah with weapons and storage spaces. According to Levitt, “Unit 910’s activity increased mainly as a revenge unit following the elimination of former unit commander Imad Mughniyeh” (February 2008).
Another senior operative of Unit 910 is Samer al-Dbik, who was criminally prosecuted in New York in 2017. He was sent to Thailand to shut down a Hezbollah explosives laboratory.
The American magazine “Front Page” emphasized the danger inherent in Hezbollah’s sleeper operatives in the United States, noting that some of the targets Kurani “marked” included John F. Kennedy Airport and law enforcement facilities in New York, including the Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.
Naturalization is the key to the terrorist activity of such operatives: Kurani became an American citizen before Unit 910 began operating him.
Unit 910 modus operandi:
The unit’s routine and methods of operation are very similar to the familiar methods of intelligence organizations operating around the world, and first and foremost are characterized by complete secrecy:
- Collecting information on a target to create a thorough file for an upcoming operation.
- Recruiting, certifying and distributing of operatives all over the world enabling them to carry out a variety of terrorist acts. Use of local confidants to assist them.
- Assistance from current or former Hezbollah operatives, friends or relatives of operatives abroad, most of whom are Shi’ites and foreign nationals.
- Contacting people under the guise of charity.
- Close cooperation with the IRGC Intelligence Organization and the Quds Force to carry out missions and cooperation including the transfer of resources, including weapons, training, locating suitable persons, personal documents, and intelligence cooperation.
- Renting apartments abroad, buying properties and opening front companies.
The main unit’s operations exposed since the beginning of its activity:
- 1992 – Detonating a car bomb at the Israeli embassy in the Argentine capital in Buenos Aires.
- 1994 – Detonating a truck bomb that exploded in front of the Argentine Jewish Association building in Buenos Aires.
- 1994 – Suicide bombing attack on a Panamanian plane taking off from Colon to Panama City.
- 2007 – Attempted violent attack in Baku, Azerbaijan.
- 2009 – Attempted operation in Turkey.
- 2011- Planning operations in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. It ended with the arrest of a member of the unit and the exposure of a weapons storehouse.
- 2012 – The bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria.
The Unit Commander – Talal Hamiyah:
Full Name: Talal Hosni Hamiyah (طلال حسني حميه)
Alias: Abu-Jaafar (أبو جعفر) | Named after his eldest son, Muhammad Jaafar Talal Hamiya (محمد جعفر طلال حميه)
Pseudonym: Ismat Mazrani (عصمت ميزاراني)
Date of birth: 03.05.1958
Father’s name: Hosni Hamiyah (حسني حميه)
Mother’s name: Ghazaleh Hamiyah (غزالة حميه)
Personal Status: Married to Faryal Daher (فريال ضاهر)
Family home address: 54 Taraiyya, Baʿalbek, Beqaa Valley, Lebanon
In the past, he served as Imad Mughniyeh’s deputy until the latter was eliminated in February 2008. He may also have served as Hezbollah’s chief intelligence officer.
Unit 910’s connection to Hezbollah’s foreign relations unit, which operates under the Executive Council:
The Foreign Relations Unit of the Executive Council serves as Hezbollah’s Foreign Ministry and works vis-à-vis government bodies, political parties, and the like. In addition, its other central role is to assist Hezbollah operatives abroad, including operatives of the 910 terrorist apparatus and others like it. Lending support for terrorism including recruiting and activating collaborators, logistical support for Unit 910 operatives of all types, and securing its activities.
The Foreign Relations Unit is working to create a civilian infrastructure that will enable Unit 910’s terrorist activity.
As far as is known, Ali Dammoush (deputy head of the Executive Council) formally heads the Foreign Relations Unit. It is possible that in recent years Khalil Rizeq has served as its de facto headquarters. Khalil Rizeq is responsible for relations with Latin American countries.
Apart from Latin America, the External Relations Unit operates in Africa in general and in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria in particular, in Asia and Europe. The unit’s arenas of operation correspond to those of Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure.
