Iraqi militia commander killed by drone attack near Damascus airport: war monitor

Damascus: A senior commander of Iraq's Hezbollah Brigades, known as Abu Haidar, was killed on Friday in a suspected Israeli drone strike near Damascus International Airport, according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The attack targeted the commander's vehicle early in the morning on a road adjacent to the airport in the Sayyida Zeinab area. His bodyguard sustained injuries, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based war monitor indicated that the absence of large explosions typically associated with air raids implies the strike was a precise missile attack on the vehicle.

Since the beginning of 2024, Israel has executed 67 strikes in Syria, comprising 50 airstrikes and 17 ground operations, targeting 142 facilities and resulting in 211 military casualties, alongside 23 civilian fatalities, including a child and four women, the observatory said.

Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group integrated into Iraq's security apparatus, has been deploying troops to Syria to support the Syrian government against insurgents.

Neither Israel nor Syria has issued an official statement regarding this incident.