Senior Hizballah military commander killed in Syria

Hizballah commander Mustafa Badreddine, thought to have been the head of group's military wing, has been killed by an Israeli airstrike in Syria, the Lebanese group confirmed on Friday.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab

13 May, 2016

Badreddine is believed to be the group's most senior military commander [AFP]

A senior Hizballah commander has been killed in Syria, the Lebanese group confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning.

Hizballah said Mustafa Badreddine had been killed in an Israeli airstrike at the Lebanese-Syrian border this week.

Badreddine is thought to have been the head of Hizballah's military wing, taking over after the assassination of his brother in law, former commander Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus in 2008.

Badreddine was arrested in Kuwait in 1983, and convicted on terrorist charges there. He escaped prison during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Badreddine is accused of planning the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in an explosion in Beirut in 2005, alongside four other Hizballah leaders indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Badreddine is also accused of leading Hizballah's forces in Syria, and has been placed under sanctions by the US government.