Hezbollah leader who planned attack on US soldiers killed in recent Israeli airstrike - report

Senior Hezbollah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq was reportedly killed in a recent airstrike attributed to Israel in Syria, a senior US defense official told NBC.

The defense official told NBC it was unclear when the strike took place, its precise location, and whether it sought to specifically target and eliminate Daqduq.

Daqduq was central in terrorist operations against the IDF in southern Lebanon from 2003-2006 before moving to Iraq and helping to build up terrorist operations against US forces in the region.

Daqduq's attack on US soldiers 

In 2007, he was arrested by US forces in Iraq on charges of orchestrating an attack on US troops in Karbala in which five soldiers were killed, although he was later transferred to Iraqi custody and released in 2012. After his release, he trained Hezbollah's special forces until he was given command of the Golan File in 2018.

Shortly after being released, Daqduq was among Hezbollah terrorists again, the senior official told NBC.

NBC reported that US officials believed that the terrorists were directly supported by Iran's Qud Forces within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including coordination, training, and intelligence to plan and carry out the attack. 

Syrian media had previously speculated that Daqduq was the target of the airstrike and was eliminated, but the IDF has yet to confirm his elimination. 

Tzvi Joffre and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.