Angry Hezbollah men bury top fighter Jihad Mughniyeh

BEIRUT: Thousands of Hezbollah supporters marched Monday behind the yellow-draped coffin of one of its most prominent fighters killed the day before in what the group said was an Israeli airstrike in Syria, pumping their fists angrily in the air and chanting, “Death to Israel.”
Tehran added to the combustible mix even further, announcing Monday that a senior Iranian general also died in the airstrike in the Golan Heights, along with the six Hezbollah members.
The airstrike — neither confirmed nor denied by Israel — was a serious blow to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, stretched thin and neck-deep in Syria's civil war where the group's Shiite fighters are battling alongside President Bashar Assad's forces.
The emotional funeral of Jihad Mughniyeh — the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah operative assassinated in 2008 in Damascus and one of the six Hezbollah fighters killed Sunday in the Golan — is likely to further ratchet up tensions between the militant Lebanese Shiite group and its archenemy Israel.
Jihad Mughniyeh is the group's most prominent figure to die so far in Syria since the Shiite militant group joined the conflict next door in 2012, fighting on Assad's side against the rebellion. The younger Mughniyeh had been photographed with Hezbollah chief, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and with the powerful Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani, highlighting his standing within the group.
Thousands of people lined the streets of the Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Ghobeiri in southern Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, as dozens of men in military uniforms waved yellow Hezbollah flags.
“They did this to frighten us ... But we say, 'Death to America!'” some shouted as bursts of gunfire rang out. It was also a significant setback, coming on the heels of a confirmation last week by Nasrallah that the organization had uncovered and arrested a senior operative who was spying for Israel.
Hezbollah said its fighters were targeted as they were “inspecting positions” near the Israeli-controlled border in the Golan.
In a statement published on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's website, Tehran confirmed that an Iranian general also was killed in the Israeli airstrike.
It said Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi was on assignment in Syria, giving “crucial advice” to Syrians fighting terrorists, a reference to those fighting against Assad's troops. It added that Allahdadi will be buried in the coming days.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, meanwhile, said he “vigorously condemns” the airstrike, describing it as “state terrorism” by Israel.