LEBANON – The spokesperson of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Mohammed Afif, was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Sunday. Lebanese security sources told both Reuters and AFP that he was killed in the strike on the center of Lebanon’s capital. A Hezbollah official gave the same information to the Associated Press. Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed reported that Afif was at the headquarters of the pro-Hezbollah Baath Party when it was struck, citing the head of the party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazim, according to Reuters.

CNN has not yet confirmed the news, although Hezbollah’s media office has been accepting condolences in a likely sign that Afif was killed. The attack was just the fourth Israeli strike inside Beirut’s city limits since 2006, when a 34-day armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah took place. Sunday’s strike hit the area, known as Ras al-Nebaa, in the middle of the day, with no evacuation warning issued. The Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the strike. Afif was one of the few public faces of Hezbollah, following a massive Israeli infiltration operation drove the group deep underground. He was also a close adviser of Hezbollah’s long-time late leader Hassan Nasrallah. He often delivered speeches from news conferences amid the rubble in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded by attacks since Israel began a new offensive on October 1. (CNN)

Photo: Residents and rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a building in central Beirut’s Ras el-Nabaa neighborhood, Lebanon on Sunday (AP)