The White House said on Friday no aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition was in the vicinity when Hezbollah's top military commander Mustapha Badreddine was reportedly killed in a blast in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

"I can't independently confirm them (reports of his death)," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest here at the daily briefing.  "The thing that I can confirm is that there were no U.S. or coalition aircraft in the area where he was reported to be killed. "

The Lebanese Hezbollah militant party announced Friday the death of Badreddine in a bombing in Damascus.

In a statement issued by its media department, the party did not disclose the nature of the bombing.

"Information received during a preliminary investigation shows that a large explosion targeting one of our posts near Damascus international airport killed Mustapha Badreddine and injured others," said the statement.

Hezbollah said that Badreddine was in Syria where he was "waging jihad against takfiri groups."

"The party will reveal more details on his death at a later stage," said the statement, adding that Badreddine's funeral will be held on Friday. 

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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