Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, better known as Sid Mahsan, was in the building in Beirut that was hit by the Israeli Air Force. He is the second man in the hierarchy of the Lebanese political-military organization.
Israel claims to have killed this top Hezbollah military official during a drone attack on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, but the country has not confirmed the claims of Israeli officials. They say Shukr was in the building that was hit, but did not disclose his condition.
“As is known, the Zionist enemy attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday, targeting a residential building. The attack led to the death of several citizens, the wounding of others and significant damage to several floors. The senior jihadist commander, Brother Fuad Shukr, was in the building at the time The Civil Defense team is working hard to clear the ruins, but progress is slow due to the condition of the destroyed floors. We are still waiting for the outcome regarding the fate of the respected leader and other citizens,” Hezbollah said this morning.
Two Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Shukr was seriously injured in the attack.
Who is Fuad Shukr
He has been one of the group’s leading figures since it was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard more than four decades ago. He is the top military commander of Hezbollah and is an adviser to leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for planning and directing war operations.
Hezbollah sources said Shukr fought against Israeli troops during the 1982 Israeli invasion along with Imad Mughniyeh and Mustafa Badreddine, another veteran Hezbollah commander who was killed in Syria in 2016.
It is believed that Shukr is currently in his 60s, and he rose to prominence in Hezbollah after the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, one of the biggest brains of this military-political group, who is remembered as one of the most wanted terrorists on the US blacklist.
The US government has set aside a reward of five million dollars for information about Shukr and his whereabouts. They claim he played a central role in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, in which 241 US soldiers were killed.
They also said he played a key role in Hezbollah’s military operations in Syria, where the group deployed fighters in support of President Bashar al-Assad in the early years of the Syrian civil war.
Israel’s military said he was the commander responsible for a rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights village of Druze on Saturday, as well as killing “numerous Israelis and foreign nationals over the years.” Hezbollah has denied any role in Saturday’s attack.
They also said he was “responsible for most of Hezbollah’s most advanced weaponry, including precision-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range missiles and drones, Klix.ba writes.
