A recent IDF airstrike in Syria killed a senior Hezbollah commander who helped plan one of the most daring attacks against US troops during the Iraq war, NBC News reported on Friday, quoting a senior US defense official.

The 2007 attack, carried out by a cell of terrorists disguised as a US security team, killed five US soldiers.

Ali Mussa Daqduq, who helped plan the attack, was arrested by US forces afterward but was later transferred to Iraqi authorities, who released him in 2012.

The senior defense official was not familiar with details of the IDF strike that killed Daqduq, including whether it targeted him specifically and when exactly it took place.

Daqduq was active in carrying out terror acts against the IDF in southern Lebanon from 2003-2006. He then moved to Iraq, where he focused on terror acts against US soldiers. After the Iraqi government released him in 2012, he immediately returned to Hezbollah ranks and continued carrying out terror activities.

The IDF refused to comment on the report.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)