Rumors have been circulating all day that Hossam Ali Nisr, a top Hezbollah commander, was killed in Damascus. If confirmed, the incident will be read both as a substantive loss to the Iran-backed terror group and as confirmation of Hezbollah’s deep involvement in the Syrian conflict. Some Lebanese news outlets described Nisr as the organization’s top commander in Syria.

Nisr has reportedly already been interred in his home village in south Lebanon. The news comes as Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah has doubled down on the sectarian conflict:

The report of Nisr’s killing comes after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said he was ready to go to Syria to fight extremists he accused of staging a deadly car bomb attack last Thursday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a bastion of his movement. According to a final count, 27 people were killed in the attack. “I will go myself to Syria if it is so necessary in the battle against the takfiris (radical Sunni Muslims), Hezbollah and I will go to Syria” to fight rebels trying to oust the Damascus regime, Nasrallah said…

Nasrallah and Hezbollah’s Iranian backers have accused Israel of supporting Sunni extremists in Syria. They have also linked Israel to last week’s car bombing in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold, which was claimed by a Sunni group.

Below is an excerpt from Nasrallah’s speech Saturday in which he blamed Israel for last week’s “takfiri” attack:

[Photo: Press TV Channel / YouTube]