A Hezbollah fighter was killed in a Monday air strike in Syria attributed to Israel, becoming the Lebanese terror group's first declared casualty there since its leader warned last year that further killings of its members in the country would face retaliation.
Ali Kamel Mohsen, from south Lebanon, was killed in the air strike near Damascus airport, according to a death notice declaring him a martyr with the Islamic Resistance, a reference to Hezbollah, and which was confirmed by the group.
2 View gallery
Syrian air defenses are triggered during an air strike attributed to Israel on Monday night
(Photo: AFP)
It was an apparent reference to Monday night's incident, which Western intelligence sources said hit a major Iranian-backed ammunition depot on the edge of the Syrian capital.
Syrian state media said air defenses had intercepted a new Israeli "aggression" above the capital Damascus.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that five foreign fighters were killed in the strikes and seven Syrian soldiers were wounded.
2 View gallery
Syrian air defenses are triggered during an air strike attributed to Israel on Monday night
(Photo: AFP)
Hezbollah has deployed fighters in Syria as part of Iranian-backed efforts to support Syrian President Bashar Assad in a conflict that spiraled out of protests against his rule in 2011.
Following the killing of two Hezbollah members in Damascus last August, the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed to respond if Israel killed any more of its fighters in Syria.