BICOM

Israel yesterday flatly denied any involvement in the killing of a top Hezbollah commander outside his home in Beirut. A previously unknown Sunni group later took responsibility for the assassination.

Hassan al-Laqqis was shot in the head from close range outside in the Hadath neighbourhood of southern Beirut. Hezbollah was quick to blame Israel for the shooting, releasing a statement saying “This enemy [Israel] bears full responsibility for this heinous crime,” adding that “The Israeli enemy tried to get to our martyr brother several times, in more than one location.” Spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Yigal Palmor responded emphatically saying “This has strictly nothing to do with Israel,” and said that instead of making “automatic and groundless accusations against Israel,” Hezbollah should instead “examine their own actions.”

Later in the day, a previously unknown Sunni group called the Ahrar al-Sunna Baalbek Brigade said via social media that it carried out the assassination. Little is known about al-Laqqis, but reports suggest he had overseen the procurement of weapons for Hezbollah and their subsequent smuggling into the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Some reports also suggested he was close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and played a significant role fighting alongside Syrian President Assad’s troops in recent months.

Hezbollah, which is largely bankrolled and trained by the Iranian regime, has fought side by side with Syrian government forces, most notably recapturing the crucial town of Qusair earlier this year. With a significant number of Lebanese Sunnis thought to have joined the anti-Assad opposition forces, the Syrian conflict has fuelled Sunni-Shi’ite tensions in Lebanon. Last month, a Sunni group said it carried out a bomb attack on the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, in response to Hezbollah involvement in Syria. A Hezbollah-dominated area of Beirut was also the target for a large car bomb in August.