Hezbollah says it killed IS commander in Lebanon

Jihadist commander for attack-stricken Qaa region near Syria border died in rocket attack, group reports

By AP 3 July 2016, 12:53 am

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Lebanese security forces secure the site of multiple suicide bombings which took place early on June 27, 2016 in the predominantly Christian village of Al-Qaa, in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria. (AFP/ STRINGER)

BEIRUT — The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah says it has killed the Islamic State military commander for the Qaa border area in Lebanon, where a series of suicide bombings and other attacks killed five people earlier this week.

Hezbollah’s media outlet Al-Manar said the group, which shares security responsibilities with the Lebanese army in areas along the eastern border with Syria, killed a commander known as Abu Khatab in a rocket attack. The army did not release any comment.

Hezbollah, which also participates in Lebanon’s government, has blamed the Qaa attacks on IS.

Violence from neighboring Syria’s civil war has spilled across the border in the past. Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants briefly seized the Lebanese border town of Arsal in 2014, before security forces pushed them back across the frontier.