Two Hezbollah leaders given £9million bounties by US

The State Department offered £9 million ($12 million) in rewards for the capture of two leaders of the Hezbollah terrorist group.

The United States is offering up to £5.3m ($7m) and up to £3.7m ($5m) “for information that leads to the location, arrest or conviction in any country” of Talal Hamiyah and Fu’ad Shukr, respectively, State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Nathan Sales said Tuesday at a news briefing.

It is the first time in a decade that the U.S. is offering rewards for Hezbollah operatives under its counterterrorism rewards program.

Hamiyah leads Hezbollah’s international terrorist unit, responsible for planning attacks outside of Lebanon. Most attacks target Americans and Israelis, Sales said.

Shukr is a senior military commander for Hezbollah in Lebanon who helped launch and plan the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings that killed 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers and six civilians.

“Until Hezbollah stops using terrorism and violence to achieve its goals, the United States and our allies will aggressively target its terrorism infrastructure and financial support networks,” Sales said.