BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Saturday blamed extremists for killing the Shiite militant group’s top military commander in Syria in an artillery attack.
The Iran-backed movement has deployed thousands of fighters in Syria where Mustafa Badreddine had led its intervention in support of President Bashar Assad.
“An investigation has shown that the blast that targeted one of our positions near the Damascus international airport that led to the martyrdom of the brother commander Mustafa Badreddine was caused by artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri groups present in that region,” a Hezbollah statement said.
It did not name any particular group and there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
A Syrian security source has told AFP that Badreddine was in a warehouse near the Damascus airport when it was rocked by a blast on Thursday night.
No aircraft was heard before the explosion, the source said.
In its statement Saturday, a day after thousands attended Badreddine’s funeral in Beirut, Hezbollah vowed no let up in its war against those it describes as “criminal gangs” in Syria.
“The result of the investigation will only increase our determination and will to pursue the fight against those criminal gangs until they are defeated,” the statement said.
“It is the same battle against the American-Zionist scheme in the region, which the terrorists are spearheading,” it added.
The Iran-backed movement has deployed thousands of fighters in Syria where Mustafa Badreddine had led its intervention in support of President Bashar Assad.
“An investigation has shown that the blast that targeted one of our positions near the Damascus international airport that led to the martyrdom of the brother commander Mustafa Badreddine was caused by artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri groups present in that region,” a Hezbollah statement said.
It did not name any particular group and there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
A Syrian security source has told AFP that Badreddine was in a warehouse near the Damascus airport when it was rocked by a blast on Thursday night.
No aircraft was heard before the explosion, the source said.
In its statement Saturday, a day after thousands attended Badreddine’s funeral in Beirut, Hezbollah vowed no let up in its war against those it describes as “criminal gangs” in Syria.
“The result of the investigation will only increase our determination and will to pursue the fight against those criminal gangs until they are defeated,” the statement said.
“It is the same battle against the American-Zionist scheme in the region, which the terrorists are spearheading,” it added.
