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Hassan Ali Daqduq, son of senior Hezbollah commander Musa Ali Daqduq, was reportedly killed in a latest Israeli airstrike in Syria’s Quneitra governorate. The elder Daqduq was tasked by Iran and Hezbollah to ascertain militias in Iraq alongside the traces of the Lebanese Hezbollah. He was profitable in his efforts, and quite a few Iranian-backed Iraqi militias exert their power in Iraq and the area.
Three different folks linked to Hezbollah’s “Golan Unit,” often known as Syrian Hezbollah, have been killed in the identical airstrike. FDD’s Lengthy Battle Journal couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the stories.
The Golan unit is headed by Hassan’s father, Musa Ali Daqduq. Hassan’s place within the Golan entity is unknown. In Might 2023, two US intelligence officers informed FDD’s Lengthy Battle Journal that the Golan unit was coaching to assault US forces stationed in Syria. Since Hamas’s brutal assault on southern Israel on October 7, Iraqi and Syrian militias have attacked US bases greater than 80 instances.
As well as, one of many deceased people has been recognized as Muhammed al-Tamer, a Syrian citizen and member of a pro-Assad militia. For now, Hezbollah has chosen to not concern an official assertion detailing the circumstances surrounding Daqduq’s killing, though the group launched a press release mourning the fallen fighters.
Whereas the precise particulars surrounding the deaths of Daqduq and his associates stay unsure, each Syrian and Israeli information media have revealed stories suggesting {that a} drone strike – presumably Israeli – focused the automobile carrying Daqduq and the opposite fighters.
After the Hamas-led terrorist assault on southern Israel on October 7, the Israeli navy has been concerned in conflicts on a number of fronts. The Jewish state has centered on eliminating Hamas in Gaza, however has launched pre-emptive strikes in opposition to Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which operates in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. For instance, Israeli airstrikes on November 10 within the Syrian province of Homs killed seven Hezbollah fighters. Individually, Israeli strikes within the Damascus space on December 2 killed two IRGC generals who have been reportedly there on an “advisory” mission.
Since Hezbollah started its offensive in opposition to Israel in October, the Lebanese group has misplaced 98 fighters to Israeli strikes, most alongside Israel’s border with Lebanon, in line with a depend by FDD’s Lengthy Battle Journal.
Musa Ali Daqduq and his legacy in Iraq
Musa Ali Daqduq is a US-sanctioned Hezbollah navy commander who performed a big function within the formation of Iran-backed Shia terrorist organizations accountable for the assassination of US troopers in Iraq.
In keeping with the US Treasury Division: “In roughly 2005, Iran requested Hezbollah to type a gaggle to coach Iraqis to struggle coalition forces in Iraq. In response, Hassan Nasrallah established a secret Hezbollah unit to coach and advise Iraqi militants in Jaish al Mahdi ( JAM) [or Mahdi Army] and JAM Particular Teams, now often called Asaib Ahl al Haq [League of the Righteous],” a Mahdi Military faction, which is a US-listed international terrorist group. Asaib Ahl al Haq has emerged as one of the vital highly effective Shia terrorist organizations in Iraq right now.
Daqduq labored carefully with the previous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Pressure commander Qassem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the previous head of Iraq’s Widespread Mobilization Forces and the founding father of the Hezbollah Brigades, and Qais Qazali, the founder and chief of Asaib Ahl al Haq, and Abu Mustafa al Sheibani, the founding father of the Sheibani community and present chief of Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, to ascertain a community of militias loyal to Iran.
The US killed Muhandis and Soleimani in an airstrike in Baghdad in 2020.
The Iranian-backed militias spawned by Daqduq, Hezbollah and Iran at the moment are highly effective entities in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, the militias maintain important political energy in parliament, whereas the navy branches dominate the Widespread Mobilization Forces, an official arm of the Iraqi safety institution that stories solely to the prime minister.
In 2007, Daqduq was captured by the US navy. After 11 months, he was transferred to Iraqi custody and launched in November 2012 after being acquitted of terrorism fees. After his launch in 2012, america added Daqduq to its checklist of Specifically Designated World Terrorists. Daqduq quickly returned to Lebanon and was put in control of coaching Hezbollah’s particular forces.
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