US Charges Alleged Hezbollah Member Over 1994 Argentina Bombing

NEW YORK — A U.S. court on Wednesday unsealed an indictment charging an alleged senior Hezbollah operative with terrorism charges, in part for coordinating a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. 


Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Samuel Salman El Reda, 58, had coordinated Hezbollah's activities in South America, Asia and Lebanon since 1993. The Iran-backed, heavily armed Shiite group is part of Lebanon's coalition government.  


Prosecutors said El Reda is based in Lebanon and remains at large. The U.S. State Department in 2019 sanctioned El Reda and offered a $7 million reward for information on his whereabouts.  


Argentina also blames Hezbollah for a 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people.