A commander in the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group was killed on Friday, when a powerful blast shook one of the group's positions near the International Airport of Damascus, Hezbollah said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

"A big explosion targeted one of our positions near the International Airport of Damascus, which led to the martyrdom of our brother, commander Mustafa Badreddine, otherwise known as Sayyed Thu al-Faqar," Hezbollah said.

Badreddine was a military leader of Hezbollah. He was the cousin and brother-in-law of late Imad Mugniyah, a high-ranking Hezbollah commander, who was killed in Damascus by an explosion that targeted him while leaving home in Kafar-Suseh district in 2008. Hezbollah then accused Israel of being behind the blast.

Badreddine had held several positions in Hezbollah and was tasked with many operations abroad. As the group started fighting the Jihadi groups in Syria alongside the Syrian government forces, Badreddine was among those operating in Syria.

Investigation will be carried out to identify the nature of the explosion and whether it was a result of aerial bombardment, a rocket or artillery fire, said the statement.

Meanwhile, according to the pro-government Radio Sham FM and a reporter from Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, the explosion was caused by an Israeli strike near Damascus airport.

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