BEIRUT — More than two days after a massive Israeli airstrike that killed the leader of the Hezbollah militant group, smoke is still rising from the smoldering wreckage.
Israel said the Friday night strike targeted a meeting at an underground Hezbollah compound. The blasts leveled multiple high-rise apartment towers in the densely populated predominantly Shiite southern Beirut suburb known as Dahiyeh.
Hezbollah confirmed in a statement Saturday that its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in the strike — a huge blow for the group he had led for 32 years.
On Sunday, Associated Press journalists saw smoke still rising over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check on what's left of their homes, others to pay respects and pray. Some were there to simply inspect the destruction.
Residents of Beirut heard up to 10 explosions following the Friday strike that targeted an area greater than a city block, reducing several residential buildings to a jumble of pancaked concrete and twisted steel. The buildings sank into the ground, leaving a cleared-out area bigger than a soccer field.
Israel on Saturday released videos it said were of the warplanes that took part in the strike, showing at least eight F-15Is, but it didn't provide any comment on the type or number of bombs used. Experts said the blasts and destruction left behind were consistent with the 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) -class bombs, likely designed to explode after penetrating structures.
The video showed the eight warplanes fitted with munitions consistent with American-manufactured BLU-109 penetrator bombs of the 2,000-pound class bomb; and a JDAM harness and tail kit, which is a precision guidance system.
The components, which together make up the GBU-31, have recently been transferred to Israel by the U.S., crisis and weapons researcher Richard Weir, from Human Rights Watch and currently in Beirut, told the AP. The bombs are known as ''bunker busters.''
