.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported the killing of Aref Al Jahmani, a prominent figure aligned with Hezbollah in the town of Saida, which is in Deraa governorate.
It
was the latest in a string of assassinations and murders going back years in territory recaptured by the Syrian regime.
Al Jahmani previously fought with an opposition group known as the Yarmouk Army before reconciling with the regime after Deraa’s recapture in 2018.
He then joined Hezbollah, rising to become an important figure in the local area. He survived a previous assassination attempt in April.
A representative for Hezbollah did not respond to requests from comment.
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When the European Council meets later today, its agenda will have been completely rewritten by events of the past 24 hours.
On Sunday afternoon, a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to Minsk – officially Belarusian authorities claimed there was a bomb threat, a fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane – which was closer to four other airports.
Among the passengers was Roman Protasevich, a journalist who by appearances would have been a most unlikely fugitive but is regarded as a terrorist in the eyes of the Belarusian state. It is now obvious the bomb threat was all a ploy, taking advantage of Protasevich transiting Belarusian airspace to bring the flight to the ground and arrest him.