Mustafa Badreddine

Top Hezbollah commander in Syria, Mustafa Badreddine, has been killed in an attack in Damascus, dealing a major blow to the powerful Iranian-backed group

Badreddine, 55, was cousin and brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s top military chief killed in 2008 assassination widely blamed on Israel

Responsible for group’s military operations in Syria since 2011, where it is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Sentenced to death in Kuwait for 1983 bombings there, including attacks on U.S. and French embassies – but escaped from jail during Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait

Indicted by UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon for involvement in 2005 killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri

Reported to have sat on Hezbollah’s Shura Council and
served as adviser to group’s overall leader Hassan Nasrallah

Picture: Associated Press