The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah held a parade in Syria over the weekend to show off its array of military equipment, which included American-made armored vehicles fitted with antiaircraft guns.
Photographs of Hezbollah militants posing with the armored personnel carriers, known as the M113, have raised questions among U.S. officials and analysts about how the terror group acquired the vehicles.
Defense analyst Tobias Schneider speculated that Hezbollah had received or stolen them from the Lebanese Armed Forces, which receives a sizable amount of military aid from the U.S., the Washington Post reported.
Over the summer, the Lebanese military received several pieces of U.S. military equipment that totaled $50 million as part of an American effort to strengthen the country's ability to fight extremists in the Middle East. The Lebanese military rejected the claim that the M113s were taken from its arsenal.
The State Department and the Pentagon also denied that the carriers were taken from the LAF.
"The Lebanese military has publicly stated that the M113s depicted online were never part of their equipment roster," an unnamed State Department official told the Post. "Our initial assessment concurs: The M113s allegedly in Hezbollah's possession in Syria are unlikely to have come from the Lebanese military. We are working closely with our colleagues in the Pentagon and in the Intelligence Community on to resolve this issue."
Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood said the agency also rejects the claim that Hezbollah took the M113s from the Lebanese military.
U.S. officials said they believe the terrorist group acquired the M113s after the disbandment of the Southern Lebanese Army, a Christian militia formerly allied with and supplied by Israel.