BEIRUT: Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine has been killed, the Lebanese group said on Friday, the biggest blow to the Iranian-backed organization since its military chief was killed in 2008.
Badreddine, 55, was one of the highest-ranking officials in the group, and assessed by the US government to be responsible for Hezbollah’s military operations in Syria, where it is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Hezbollah said Badreddine had been killed in a big explosion targeting one of its bases near Damascus airport, and an investigation was underway into whether it was caused by an air strike, a missile attack, or artillery bombardment.
The White House said no aircraft from the US-led coalition were in the area of Damascus where Badreddine was killed.
Hezbollah did not immediately say who it blamed for the attack, but its deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said there were clear indications of who was behind it, and the group would announce the outcome of its investigation within hours. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
At least one Hezbollah figure blamed the group’s age-old enemy Israel, which has struck Hezbollah targets in Syria several times in the past since civil war started there in 2011. Israel declined to comment, but a former Israeli official said his country would be glad Badreddine was dead.
Thousands of Hezbollah members gathered in Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut and gave Badreddine a military funeral, waving Hezbollah flags. They chanted Shiite slogans, as well as “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”