Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has confirmed the death of its top military commander in the Syrian capital Damascus.
Mustafa Badreddine, 55, took over as the group's military chief following the assassination, also in the Syrian capital, of his predecessor Imad Mughniyeh in 2008. Badreddine was overseeing Hezbollah's operations in Syria, where it has been a prominent backer of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in resisting the advances of rebel groups.
"Early information from the investigation shows that a strong explosion targeted one of our centers near the Damascus International Airport leading to the martyrdom of brother commander Mustafa Badreddine and wounding several others," Hezbollah said in a statement issued on Friday.
The group said it was investigating the nature of the explosion to determine whether it was an airstrike, missile or artillery fire. Some Lebanese media has reported that Badreddine was killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to the BBC, but Israel has not commented on this claim and Hezbollah has not confirmed it. Badreddine's predecessor Mughniyeh was killed in a joint operation by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and the CIA.
Badreddine was one of four people being tried in absentia for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a 2005 suicide bombing in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The trial is ongoing near the Hague, the Netherlands.
The Shiite militant group, which is backed by Iran, went to war with Israel in 2006 and the conflict flares up periodically. The group vowed to retaliate against Israel after another senior commander, Samir Qantar, was killed in an airstrike blamed on the Israeli military in Damascus.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in December 2015 that Israeli forces operate in Syria "from time to time" in a bid to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to Lebanon, where they could be used by Hezbollah to attack his country.
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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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