- Title: Beirut funeral for Hezbollah commander killed in Syria
- Date: 13th May 2016
- Summary: VARIOUS OF COFFIN CARRIED BY MEMBERS OF HEZBOLLAH
- Embargoed: 28th May 2016 17:29
- Keywords: Mideast Hezbollah commander funeral Syria attack Shi'ite Lebanon
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0024HN73GN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of people attended the funeral of top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine in Beirut on Friday (May 13), after he was killed in Syria.
Badreddine's death is the biggest blow to the Lebanese Shi'ite organisation since its military chief was killed in 2008.
Badreddine, 55, was one of the highest ranking officials in the group, and assessed by the U.S. government to be responsible for Hezbollah's military operations in Syria, where it is fighting alongside the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The killing of Badreddine, a brother-in-law of the late Hezbollah military commander, Imad Moughniyah, is the latest big loss sustained by Hezbollah and Iran in Syria despite Russian military intervention in support of Assad and his allies.
Hezbollah has lost at least four prominent figures since January 2015. A number of high-ranking Iranian officers have also been killed either fighting Syrian insurgents or in Israeli attacks.
Badereddine was carried through the streets by Hezbollah members before he was buried in Rawdat Al Shahiden cemetery.
Hezbollah said Badreddine had been killed in a big explosion targeting one of its bases near Damascus airport, and an investigation was underway into whether it was caused by an air strike, a missile attack, or artillery bombardment.
It did not say when he was killed.
The Lebanese TV station al-Mayadeen earlier reported he had been killed in an attack by Israel, which has struck Hezbollah targets in Syria several times during the conflict that began in 2011.
There was no immediate response from Israel.
Hezbollah, a political and military movement and Lebanon's most powerful group, has grown ever stronger since forcing Israel to end its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000. The sides fought a 34-day war in 2006, their last major conflict. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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