Iran has confirmed a general of its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) died in an Israeli air strike in Syria that also killed several members of the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hizballah on January 18.
The IRGC said in a statement on January 19 that General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi had been on assignment giving "crucial advice" to Syrians fighting terrorists -- a reference to Sunni rebels and Islamic extremists.
The strike also killed a son of a top Hizballah operative assassinated in 2008 in Damascus.
Hizballah said the strike targeted two Hizballah vehicles as fighters were inspecting positions in an area close to the Israeli-controlled frontier.
Israeli Channel 10 television said an official Israeli source had confirmed that Israel had mounted an attack inside Syria on January 18.
Hizballah fighters have been battling alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Predominantly Shi'ite Iran backs Hizballah and the regime in Damascus.