Top Hezbollah chief 'killed in Israel blitz'

Commander was wanted over bombing | Strike targets busy city area in rush hour

- SIMON MURPHY

A TOP Hezbollah commander was said to have been killed yesterday in an Israeli attack on Beirut.

Israel claimed its strike in Lebanon's capital killed Ibrahim Aqil, wanted over the 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut, which killed 63 people.

There was no confirmation of this by Hezbollah.

The Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital killed at least 12 people and wounded 66 others, according to Lebanese health officials, and flattened two apartment buildings.

Israel also claimed it had killed around 10 other senior commanders as they held a meeting.