Kremlin: Reports of Hezbollah Top Commander's Death Need to Be Checked

Reports claiming that a key military commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement has been killed require additional checking, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, media reports emerged claiming that Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday night. A source close to the Lebanese movement told RIA Novosti that Badreddine had been killed in an explosion near the Damascus airport in Syria.

"We have seen media reports but we do not know how reliable they are. The information is due to be checked," Peskov said.

Hezbollah, a paramilitary and political organization originating in Lebanon's Shiite population, was established in the 1980s. The group has been fighting alongside the Syrian government against Daesh terrorists and other extremist militant groups since 2011.

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by a number of countries including Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and many European states, but not by Russia.