Syria slams terror killing of Hezbollah commander

The Syrian government has censured the terror killing of a Lebanese Hezbollah commander, charging that the Israeli regime was behind the assassination.
Official Syrian news agency SANA stated in a Thursday report that Damascus views the assassination of Hassan al-Laqis as part of a larger Israeli scheme that targets resistance against the Tel Aviv regime.
The Syrian government announced in a statement that Israel had made several attempts to assassinate Laqis in the past.
Laqis was gunned down in the busy Beirut suburb of Hadath on December 3 as he returned home from work.
According to Lebanese sources, Laqis was shot five times in the head and neck from close range.
The Hezbollah resistance movement had earlier announced that the Israeli regime was behind the terror killing of its commander.
“The Israeli enemy is naturally directly to blame. This enemy must shoulder complete responsibility and repercussions for this ugly crime and its repeated targeting of leaders and cadres of the resistance,” the Lebanese resistance movement has said.
Thousands of people took part in the funeral procession of the commander in his hometown in Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek on December 4.
The Tel Aviv regime launched two wars on Lebanon in 2000 and 2006. About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed in the 33-Day War of 2006.
Hezbollah fighters defeated Israeli forces in both wars and Tel Aviv was forced to retreat without achieving any of its objectives.