The possibility of some external involvement triggering the explosions at Beirut port is becoming one of the factors during the ongoing investigation.

As reported by Asia Times, on August 7 Lebanese President Michel Aoun stated that “there are two possibilities for what happened. Either it was a result of negligence, or external interference by a missile or a bomb.”

In the same article Asia Times pointed out that explosives expert Danilo Coppe told Italian daily  that “I do not believe there was that amount of ammonium nitrate at the port of Beirut, nor that there was a fireworks depot…. When ammonium nitrate detonates, it generates an unmistakable yellow cloud. Instead, from the videos of the explosion, in addition to the white sphere that can be seen expanding – which is condensation of the sea air – you can clearly see a brick orange column tending to bright red, typical of lithium participation. Lithium-metal is a propellant for military missiles, so I think there were armaments there.”

Whatever caused the explosion, it may be that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The incompetence of successive Lebanese governments in storing so much potentially explosive material without proper safety measures could have been utilized by some external dark force.

Courtesy: Asia Times