Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — A senior Hizbullah commander has been killed in heavy
fighting in Syria.

Arab diplomatic sources said the Hizbullah commander was leading units
in the battle for the strategic Syrian town of Qusair on May 19. The sources
identified the commander as Fadi Al Jazar, one of at least 30 Hizbullah
fighters killed in the battle with Sunni rebels.

“He was a key Hizbullah commander and responsible for much of the
operations in central Syria,” a source said.

Al Jazar had been imprisoned by Israel for several years until released
nearly a decade ago. The sources said Al Jazar was trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and became a leading officer in Hizbullah’s military wing.

The sources said Al Jazar was a battalion commander of elite Hizbullah
troops, equipped with rocket-propelled grenades and assault
rifles. They said the Al Jazar led units into Qusair, a rebel-held town of
30,000.

“They [rebels] are being killed off like flies,” another source said.

Hizbullah has deployed two brigades — estimated at up to 3,000
fighters — for the Qusair operation. The sources said most of the town has
come under the control of the Assad forces.

“Twenty-eight members of Hizbullah’s elite forces were killed and more
than 70 others wounded in clashes in the town of Qusair yesterday,” the
opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on May 20.

The sources said the Syrian Army attack led to the death of a senior
commander of the Al Qaida-aligned Al Nusra Front for the Defense of the
Levant. They said the rebels were hampered by intelligence information
provided by Sunni residents of Qusair, located 10 kilometers from Lebanon.

“Qusair is a strategic victory for Assad because it effectively
halts the flow of weapons from Lebanon,” the second source said.

  30 other Hizbullah fighters killed in Syria battle with Sunni rebels, Al Nusra Front, Fadi Al Jazar, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Key commander, Qusair