Monday, January 19, 2015

Jihad Mugniyeh & 6 Others Killed in Air Strike

From Arutz Sheva, 18 Jan 2014: by Gil Ronen:

Jihad Mughniyeh, son of Imad Mugniyeh, was commander of Hezbollah's Golan forces. He was reportedly helping to prepare rockets for launch against Israel. 

Jihad Mughniyeh in 2008
Jihad Mughniyeh in 2008
Reuters


Hezbollah admitted Sunday that one of its senior men was killed along with five or six other operatives in an [air] strike in Syria. Reports ...said that the man is Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah officer who was also killed by Israel several years ago. Hezbollah reportedly called the death of Mughniyeh "an unbearable blow." He was reportedly very close to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

The men killed in the strike were reportedly assisting terrorists in preparing missiles for launch against Israel. 

Besides Mughniyeh, six other fighters were killed...They included 

  • Hezbollah field commander Mohammad Issa, whose kunya name is Abu Issa...
  • An Iranian field commander, Abu Ali Tabtabai...
...the strike...entirely destroyed one Hezbollah vehicle and damaged another...

"A group of Hezbollah mujahedeen were martyred in a Zionist rocket attack in Quneitra, and their names will be revealed later," said a message flashed on Hezbollah's Al Manar news channel Sunday.

Jihad Mughnieh was 'Commander of Golan'
...An interview given by an official in the Syrian opposition to CNN Arabic in October said that Jihad Mughniyeh has been appointed “commander of the Golan Heights area” by Hezbollah.

Mueid Razlan, a member of the Syrian opposition forces fighting the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, told CNN at the time that Hezbollah is expanding its operations on the border between Syria and Israel and warned of a possible crisis in the region.

Imad Mughniyeh’s death in a car bomb attack in Damascus in February of 2008 has been blamed on Israel, and Hezbollah has promised to avenge his death.

Imad Mughniyeh was on the most wanted list of the US for attacks on Israeli and Western targets until his death.



Supporter holds poster of Imad Mughniyeh 
Reuters

IAF helicopter fired missiles
Al Manar reported Sunday that an IAF helicopter fired two rockets at a target in Mazraat al-Amal near Quneitra.

Al Mayadeen TV said that the missiles were launched by an IAF aircraft, without specifying that it was a helicopter.

Western security sources said that the missiles were fired at a team of terrorists who had begun laying explosive charges on the Syria-Israel border near Quneitra.

According to the report, shortly before the IAF struck, two drones were seen circling above the area, apparently to collect intelligence.

Mazraat al-Amal is located in the Syrian Golan, near the border with Israel, and recent reports said that Jabhat al-Nusra forces were occupying it.

The IDF refused to formally confirm or deny the report of the strike and said that it “does not respond to reports in foreign media.”

Earlier in the day, it was reported that Israeli forces fired smoke grenades and tear gas toward Lebanese territory. Three Lebanese soldiers were taken to a hospital for treatment following that incident...

From another Arutz Sheva report:
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon refused to say anything Sunday evening about the ...strike in the Syrian Golan that killed Jihad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah man whose father, Imad Mughniyeh, was ...assassinated by Israel.

However, Yaalon [responded] to the reports from Hezbollah...said that they contradicted Hezbollah's own official claims, made in recent years, that they do not operate in the Golan.
"If Hezbollah say their people were hurt in the targeted killing, let them explain what they were doing in Syria...”...

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