Hezbollah has confirmed that senior commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday. Israel said Aqil was among senior Hezbollah figures who were killed in an airstrike on a residential building in Beirut.
The statement by the Iran-backed militant group issued early Saturday local time did not elaborate on the circumstances of his death.
Some context: Israel claimed Aqil was among the top operatives killed Friday in an airstrike on a residential building in a southern suburb of Beirut. At least 14 people died and 66 were wounded in the strike, Lebanon’s health ministry had said.
The US has accused Aqil of involvement in the 1983 embassy strike, which killed 63 people, as well as the Hezbollah bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks, which killed 241 US personnel later that year. Read more here about Aqil.
There were chaotic scenes as emergency teams rushed to the site of the attack, rescuing the wounded and searching for people believed to be trapped under the rubble. At least one residential building collapsed and others were heavily damaged.
Streets were closed by Hezbollah members, some looking incredulous as the attack represented another humiliating blow in a week which saw pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to the group explode.