Talal Hamiyah (; born between 1952 and 1960) is a Lebanese militant leader. A senior military commander in

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

since its founding in the early 1980s. He heads Hezbollah's External Security Organization (ESO), also known as Unit 910, which is responsible for planning and executing terrorist activities outside Lebanon. He is associated with terror attacks such as the 1994

AMIA bombing The AMIA bombing occurred on 18 July 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA; ), a Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Centre. Executed as a Suicide attack, suicidal attack, a Car bom ...

and 1996

Khobar Towers bombing The Khobar Towers bombing was an attack on part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, near the national oil company (Saudi Aramco) headquarters of Dhahran and nearby King Abdulaziz Air Base on 25 June 1996. At that time, Khob ...

. In 2017, the U.S. added Hamiyah to its

Rewards for Justice Program Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is United States Department of State's national security interagency program that offers reward for information leading to the location or an arrest of leaders of terrorist groups, financiers of terrorism, inclu ...

, offering $7 million for information leading to his arrest. Since 2008 he is a senior member of

Jihad Council The Jihad Council of Hezbollah is a council responsible for directing the groups' military and security activities. It also exercises considerable influence over the organization's various civilian branches and maintains ties with external partner ...

Biography

Talal Hussein Hamiyah was born between 1952 and 1960 in Brital in the

Baalbek-Hermel Governorate Baalbek-Hermel () is a governorate of Lebanon and is the largest by area in the country. It comprises the districts of Baalbek and Hermel, which in turn are subdivided into a total of 74 municipalities. The capital is at Baalbek. The governorate ...

in the Bekka Valley. He joined

in the early 1980s, shortly after the arrival of Iranian trainers to the region. After the assassination of

Abbas al-Musawi Abbas al-Musawi ( ; ; 26 October 1952 – 16 February 1992) was a Lebanese Shia cleric who served as the second secretary-general of Hezbollah from 1991 until Assassination of Abbas al-Musawi, his assassination by Israel in 1992. Early l ...

, Hamiyah became a close associate of Imad Mughniyeh. He became known to intelligence officials after he was caught on an intercepted communication celebrating the

, in which 85 people were killed, in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. For many years he was Mugniyeh's deputy, directing the 1996

, in which 19 U.S. soldiers were killed, and attacks against the IDF during the Second Lebanon War. He is a veteran figure in Hezbollah's foreign military operations, working alongside Hezbollah military commanders

Mustafa Badreddine use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Damascus International Airport, Syria , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_plac ...

and Imad Mughniyeh and

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

commander

Mohsen Rezaee Mohsen Rezaee Mirgha'ed (, born Sabzevar Rezaee Mirgha'ed (); born 1 September 1954) is an Iranian conservative politician affiliated with the Resistance Front of Islamic Iran and senior military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ...

. Following Mughniyeh's death in 2008, Hamiyah replaced him as Hezbollah's Chief of Staff, and he joined the

alongside his responsibilities leading Hezbollah's foreign operations arm the External Security Organization (Unit 910). After Badreddine was indicted by the

Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, was a tribunal of international character that was active between 2009 and 2023. It applied Lebanese criminal law under the authority of ...

for charges related to the

assassination of Rafic Hariri On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was assassinated along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcad ...

in 2011, Hamiyah reportedly assumed command of Hezbollah's military operations. Following Badreddine's death in 2016, Hamiyah was considered a "rising star" in Hezbollah and someone likely to promoted to a more senior role in the organization. His photo was publicly revealed for the first time in 2016.

Designations

Hamiyah was designated a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

by the

US Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

on 13 September 2012 due to his alleged role as top military commander. He was designated alongside Badreddine. The basis for their designation was E.O. 13224 for providing support to Hezbollah's terrorist activities in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and around the world. The

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

added him to its

(RFJ) on October 10, 2017, offering $7 million for information leading to his arrest. Hamiyah was added to the RFJ program alongside Hezbollah senior military commander Fuad Shukr as part of the first rewards for Hezbollah figures in a decade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamiyah, Talal Hezbollah members Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government Lebanese Islamists Lebanese Shia Muslims Shia Islamists People from Baalbek District Living people Rewards for Justice