EARLY on May 13th Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shia armed movement which, together with its sponsor Iran, has been propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad since early in the Syrian war, announced the death of its senior military commander in Damascus. Details were sketchy: Mustafa Badreddine, sent to lead Hizbullah’s contingent in Syria in 2012, had been killed in a “major explosion”.
He was by no means the only officer Hizbullah has lost in Syria over the last few years, but he is certainly the most high-ranking. The secretive Mr Badreddine is reported to have replaced the organisation’s operations chief, Imad Mughniyeh, after his assassination in Damascus in 2008. The severe blow this represents to Hizbullah, which is both a political party and a disciplined military outfit, was reflected in the disarray within its usually well-disciplined media machine.
While one of Hizbullah’s television channels was quick to blame Israel for the killing, the organisation’s official spokesmen refused to specify any potential perpetrators. Neither were the timing and location of the explosion clear, with conflicting reports that it had taken...Continue reading
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