Lebanon's Hezbollah buries commander killed in Syria

Lebanon's powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah buried a leading commander in the south of the country on Monday, after he was killed "performing his jihadist duties in Syria", his party said.

"The Islamic Resistance (armed wing) is celebrating a leader from its heroic, sacrificing forces, the martyr Hassan Hussein al-Hajj... who died while performing his jihadist duties in Syria," it said in an official obituary.

Hezbollah has intervened in Syria on behalf of the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, dispatching fighters and commanders to various fronts around the country.

According to the South Lebanon local news website, which is close to Hezbollah, Hajj was "the head of Hezbollah's operations inside Idlib" in northwest Syria.

He was killed in fierce clashes between Hezbollah fighters and "a takfiri (extremist Sunni) group", it said.

Although Hezbollah did not specify when Hajj was killed, local news websites in Lebanon said he died on Saturday.

Phillip Smyth, an expert on Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq, told AFP that Hajj was a "leading command element" in Hezbollah and killed in Idlib.

The Shiite group's Al-Manar television broadcast live coverage of Hajj's funeral procession to Al-Louaizeh village, where his burial was attended by large crowds including Hezbollah officials.

It was a rare move for the party, which has normally refrained from giving details on its military losses in Syria.

Hezbollah's obituary said Hajj had led "some of the most famous special operations" against Israeli forces.

Source: AFP