A former bodyguard for Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, was killed Saturday in an Israeli strike in Iran, according to an official from the Tehran-backed militant group.
Hussein Khalil, commonly known as Abu Ali and nicknamed Nasrallah’s “shield”, was killed in Iran near the Iraqi border, the Hezbollah official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An Iraqi border guard officer also told AFP that Khalil and a member of an Iraqi armed group were killed by “an Israeli drone strike” shortly after crossing into Iran.
The Iraqi group, the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades, later confirmed that its security unit commander, Haider al-Moussawi, was killed in the “Zionist attack,” along with Khalil and his son, Mahdi Khalil.
Khalil had accompanied Nasrallah during his rare public appearances for many years.
The two men were also related by marriage, with one of Khalil’s sons married to a granddaughter of Nasrallah.
During Nasrallah’s funeral in February, held nearly five months after his death, Khalil was seen standing atop the vehicle carrying the slain leader’s body.
With AFP
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