BEIRUT—The top commander of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah was killed in Syria by insurgent shelling, Hezbollah said Saturday, vowing to continue its involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Mustafa Badreddine became the highest ranking casualty for Hezbollah since the group joined Syria’s civil four years ago.
The group said the blast that killed Mustafa Badreddine near the Damascus International Airport was caused by artillery shelling by “takfiri” groups, a term Hezbollah uses to refer to Sunni extremists.
The area on the southern edge of the Syrian capital is known to host positions of several militant groups including al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, known as the Nusra Front.
Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that according to his network of activists in the area on the ground, there has been no shelling in the airport area since Wednesday.
“Hezbollah must come forward with proof about the death of its commander,” Abdurrahman said by telephone.
