Reuters Videos
Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
STORY: This is the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb on Friday, in which Israel claimed it killed a top Hezbollah commander.UPSOUND HAGARIIsraeli military spokesperson Danial Hagari said the attack killed Ibrahim Aqil, the acting commander of the group’s elite Radwan force. Hagari said the strike also killed other senior members of that unit.Lebanon’s health ministry gave a preliminary toll of 12 dead and 66 wounded.The country’s civil defense said its rescue teams were searching for people under the rubble of two buildings hit in Friday’s strike.Friday’s attack caps of a week that saw a stunningly deadly campaign appearing to target Hezbollah figures.On Tuesday thousands of electronic pagers used by the group detonated. A day later, hand-held radios exploded. The consecutive attacks killed 37 people, including at least two children, and injured more than 3,000 people.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday blamed Israel for the blasts, saying it had crossed all red lines and vowing retribution. Israel did not comment on the detonation of the electronics. A Lebanese source familiar with the electronics components told Reuters the batteries of the walkie-talkies were laced with a highly explosive compound known as PETN.It is still unclear how explosives made their way into so many communications devices used by the Lebanese militant group.But two security sources told Reuters Hezbollah was handing out pagers to its members just hours before they blew up. And the devices had been checked for threats.Aqil, the commander killed on Friday, had a $7 million bounty on his head from the United States over his link to the deadly bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983.It marks the second time in less than two months that Israel has targeted a leading Hezbollah military commander in Beirut. In July, an Israeli airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, the group’s top military commander.Israel and Hezbollah have traded cross-border fire since October, when the Iranian-backed group fired rockets it said were in support the Hamas attacks on Israel from Gaza.Tens of thousands of civilians have had to leave homes on both sides of the border.Israel said it is committed to returning its civilians to their homes and said it is prepared for any eventuality.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
