Hezbollah’s second in command killed in attack: claim

BEIRUT

An image grab taken from Lebanon's Hezbollah-run Manar TV shows Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech from an undisclosed location in Lebanon on January 25, 2013. AFP PHOTO / MANAR TV

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed yesterday that Hezbollah’s deputy chief, Naim Qassem, was killed on Feb. 26 when Syrian rebels bombed a convoy consisting of high-ranking Syrian government officers near the Lebanon border. Hezbollah has reportedly denied the claims.

“It has been confirmed... that Hezbollah’s number-two man died after [receiving] a serious injury,” the Free Syria Army posted on its Twitter account.

Hezbollah sources who denied the killing of Qassem stressed that some media outlets as well as social networks were recently trying to release false statements in an attempt to implicate Hezbollah in the Syrian crisis, according to a Russia Today report.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television announced that Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah will give a televised address late Feb. 27 as Hezbollah sources stated that they expect Nasrallah to tackle the “false rumors” in his speech.