A commander and several fighters from Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah have been killed in an Israeli air attack in the Syrian province of Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Lebanese armed group has said.
The Israeli strike in the Syrian Golan Heights killed the commander, Jihad Moughniyah, the son of a slain top military operative Imad Moughniyah. The father was assassinated in Damascus in 2008.
A Hezbollah statement on Al-Manar news channel confirmed that in total, six of its members were killed.
Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the report.
The fighters were killed during a field reconnaissance mission in the Mazraat Amal village of Quneitra province, Al-Manar reported.
Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim group based primarily in Lebanon, is fighting alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Sunni armed groups trying to overthrow the regime in Damascus.
Damascus in December called for U.N. sanctions against Israel over alleged airstrikes on Syrian soil that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied. In the summer of 2006, Hezbollah fought a month-long war with Israel.
Al Jazeera and wire services
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