Israeli fighter jets and bombers are launched across the Syrian border.
Reports from Mossad spies indicate that North Korean nuclear scientists
have been working in Syria for some time now. The pilots know that the
stability of the world may be at stake if they don’t hit their target in time.
In 2000 Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, began closely observing the newly elected
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They were unsure exactly what type of leader he would be,
but soon after taking power, Assad met with some very unsettling people. In 2001 several North
Korean dignitaries were welcomed into Syria. It was not clear what their true intentions were, but
in the coming years, a secret would be uncovered that would force Israel to risk all-out war.
Mossad continued to keep tabs on the Syria-North Korea relations when something truly scary was
discovered. There was mounting evidence that North Korea was helping Syria develop some
sort of facility capable of constructing weapons of mass destruction. At this point,
it was only a rumor, but if Syria had nuclear capabilities, it could be disastrous for Israel
and the rest of the world. Worse yet, if the nuclear weapons were being developed
by North Korea it meant that their own agenda may have been at play in Syria.
In collaboration with the United States, Israel began to dig deeper.
In 2004 U.S. intelligence intercepted several communications between Syria
and North Korea. It was not entirely clear what was being discussed, but the CIA was
eventually able to trace the calls to an isolated location in the Syrian desert.
This area was called al-Kibar and it was immediately added to Israel’s watchlist.
The question still remained, however. What were Syria and North Korea working on in the desert?
Could they be building weapons of mass destruction? More information was needed.
Then in 2006 Mossad launched a covert operation to recover intelligence and
assassinate a top Syrian official.
This would occur in an unlikely location. The
operation was not to be carried out in the Middle East but in London.
Recent evidence suggests the man being targeted by Mossad was the head of the Atomic Energy
Commission of Syria, Ibrahim Othman. The documents containing information about the mission are still
classified, so it is not entirely clear if Othman was the person Israeli intelligence was after.
Regardless of precisely who was being tracked by Mossad in London, one thing was for sure;
this person had vital information that Israel desperately needed. And at the end of their
daring operation, Israel would uncover secrets that would result in the bombing of al-Kibar.
The Syrian official landed at Heathrow Airport under a false name. Israeli agents followed him
as he made his way to London. After the official checked into his hotel, several
undercover agents set up locations in the area to monitor his activity and take the shot if needed.
Eventually, they caught a break. The official left his hotel room to head
to the Syrian embassy and go shopping in the city. While he was out, the agents broke into
his room. Members of the Neviot Division, who specialize in infiltration and hacking, bugged
the Syrian official’s computer and extracted as much information as they could from it.
There were also other agents on this mission. They were part of the Kidon
Division who specialized in the assassination of high-profile targets. It would seem that
the plan may have been to assassinate the Syrian official, but it never came to that.
Instead, the information found on the official’s computer shocked Mossad.
The agents were ordered to gather as much intelligence as they could without
alerting Syria that they were on to them. They installed software that gave Mossad
access to the system and allowed them to monitor the activity on the device.
As the analysts at Mossad sifted through the data, they were horrified at what they found.
Right there in front of them were hundreds of pictures and blueprints of the al-Kibar facility.
It seemed to be nearing completion, and what it was being built for was Israel’s worst nightmare.
In one photograph, North Korean nuclear official Chon Chibu met with Ibrahim Othman.
This could only mean one thing. North Korea and Syria were in fact working together to create
some type of military site within Syrian borders. And all evidence suggested that
the mysterious facility being built at al-Kibar was in fact a nuclear plant to enrich plutonium.
At this point, Mossad informed the Prime Minister of the threat being constructed just
beyond Israel’s borders. North Korean nuclear scientists were actively working in Syria to
help finish the facility, which would allow them to create weapons of mass destruction.
But there was even worse news coming to light. Another player in the construction of al-Kibar
was being uncovered, and it was one of the last people Israel wanted to be involved with.
Iran had been funneling money into the Syria-North Korean nuclear venture this
whole time. They did this in case their own enrichment program failed. It was estimated
that Iran had invested around one billion dollars in the project.
Israel desperately needed to gather more information about the nuclear threat that
was being constructed in Syria with the help of North Korea and Iran. Mossad sent spies to
infiltrate the facility disguised as workers. They gathered more details and took pictures
of the site. It was not yet completed but was further along than Israel had hoped.
However, the spies only had so much access to the facility,
and Israel needed more detailed intel on what exactly would be made at al-Kibar. They didn’t
want to blow the cover of their spies, so Mossad decided to send in a commando unit
from the Sayeret Matkal reconnaissance division to raid the site. Their mission was to bring
back hard evidence that the structure was being used for nuclear development.
The pictures of the facility were very suggestive, but without hard proof,
Israel could not justify taking action. The commando team made up of 12 men went in at
night. They were carried by two helicopters and dropped off just outside the facility.
Using the cover of darkness, they made their way to al-Kibar. They stealthy
moved through the facility doing their best not to engage any of the guards on duty.
The commando team took pictures, but more importantly, collected soil samples to be
analyzed. If the soil showed signs of radiation then Israel would have the
evidence they needed to justify moving on al-Kibar. The commando team was in
the middle of gathering additional intel when they were spotted by Syrian soldiers.
A firefight broke out. The commandos covered one another as they made their way out of the
facility. Using suppressing fire, they were able to evacuate to the extraction site where
they were ferried back to safety. Although the team’s mission was cut short, they managed to
take numerous photos and collect soil samples. Upon landing in Israel the soil was sent to a
lab for analysis. When the results came back, it was as they had feared. The soil was irradiated.
This confirmed all of Israel's suspicions. The North Korean scientists were there to
help the Syrians build a nuclear facility. The cat was out of the bag. Israel knew
that if the North Koreans and Syrians were allowed to complete their project,
it could destabilize the whole region, perhaps even leading to a nuclear war.
There were talks between the United States and Israel about an airstrike on the facility,
but to this day, the U.S. claims that they did not support what happened next. The fear from
the CIA was that if the site was bombed, it would certainly lead to war. But Israeli intelligence
assured them that if it were done covertly and not publicized, Assad would not retaliate.
U.S. leaders were not convinced and preferred to condemn Syria publicly rather than take
direct action. Israel felt this would have no effect on Syria’s decisions, and therefore,
they were going to carry out the airstrike without the support of their biggest ally.
As Israel planned their bombing mission into Syria, a new threat began to unfold.
Days before the planned attack, a North Korean cargo ship docked at the Syrian port of Tartus.
The shipment it was carrying was labeled as cement, but this could have been a disguise
for critical equipment or even nuclear materials that were being brought to the al-Kibar facility.
Israel decided that it was time to strike. Between the North Korea and Syria collaboration,
the photographic evidence, and the irradiated soil,
they had enough evidence to justify their next move.
On September 6, 2007, Israel launched ten F-15I Ra'am fighter jets armed with laser-guided bombs.
They were escorted by a squadron of F-16I Sufa fighter jets. In order to mask their flight path,
Israel used electronic warfare to take over Syrian air-defense systems and fed them false data.
They made it appear that the skies were clear when in fact the strike force was well on its
way. Their first target was a Syrian radar site at Tall al-Abuad. They destroyed it
using conventional precision bombs and then moved on to their primary target.
On the ground was a squad of Israeli Shaldag commandos that used a targeting laser to identify
and sight the facility for the bombers. They waited at a safe distance until the bombs were
dropped, then confirmed that the site had been destroyed, and made their way back to
safety. All Israeli aircraft and soldiers returned home. The mission was a success.
Immediately after the bombing, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
contacted the Turkish Prime Minister and asked him to relay a message to Bashar al-Assad.
The message stated that Israel would not allow a nuclear facility to be built in the region,
but no further action would be taken against them at this time. It was also mentioned that
Israel only wanted peace and that if Syria did not draw attention to what happened,
neither would Israel, and everything could go back to normal.
This tactic worked as Assad initially remained silent. It seemed as if he
wanted to keep what happened in Syria as quiet as possible. It was actually North
Korea who condemned Israel’s actions first. In a statement, North Korean leaders said:
“This is a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty
of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security.”
The following year Michael Hayden, the director of the CIA, made it clear the danger that the
North Korea-Syrian collaboration would have posed. He stated that the al-Kibar
site could have produced “enough plutonium for one or two weapons per year” and that
the facility was very similar to North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.
Whether Israel was right to bomb the facility at al-Kibar or not can be
debated. But there is no doubt that the site posed a risk to
the stability of the world and needed to be addressed one way or the other.
Now watch “North Korea vs United States (USA) - 2021 Military / Army
Comparison.” Or check out “50 Facts About Nuclear Weapons You Didn't Know.”