Mustafa Badreddine Photo: "Stop 910" website

Beirut: The Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Friday that one of its top commanders, Mustafa Badreddine, had been killed, and Lebanese TV station al-Mayadeen said he had died in an Israeli air strike in Syria, in what would be the biggest blow to the group since the CIA-aided 2008 assassination of its military commander Imad Mughniyah.

Badreddine, 55, was one of the highest-ranking officials in the group, according to security sources.

"He took part in most of the operations of the Islamic resistance since 1982," Hezbollah said in a statement announcing his death, describing Badreddine as "the great leader of jihad". He was killed on Tuesday night, the statement said.

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A US Treasury statement detailing sanctions against Badreddine last year said he was assessed to be responsible for the group's military operations in Syria since 2011. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is fighting in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Badreddine, a brother-in-law of Mughniyah, was indicted by the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

He was sentenced to death in Kuwait for his role in bomb attacks there in 1983. He escaped from prison in Kuwait after Iraq, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, invaded the country in 1990.

For years, Badreddine masterminded military operations against Israel from Lebanon and overseas and managed to escape capture by Arab and Western governments by operating clandestinely.

The US Treasury statement said Badreddine had accompanied Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during strategic coordination meetings with Dr Assad in Damascus.

It also said he had led Hezbollah ground offensives in the Syrian town of Qusayr in 2013, a critical battle in the war when Hezbollah fighters defeated Syrian rebels in an area near the Syrian-Lebanese border.

Around 1200 Hezbollah fighters are estimated to have been killed in the Syrian conflict. 

Reuters

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