On June 14, it was reported that senior Hezbollah figure Ali Musa Abbas Daqduq was eliminated on June 12 in an area south of the Litani River. Daqduq was also known by his jihadist alias Abu Hussein Sajed. In the most recent senior position known to us, he served as commander of the Golan File Unit, which operated in southern Syria near the Israeli border during the Assad regime. (This position is equivalent to the rank of brigadier general and corresponds to the commander of one of Hezbollah’s geographic units, such as Badr, Nasr, and others.)
At this stage, we do not know what his most recent position was. However, given his senior operational status and his physical presence south of the Litani River, it is clear that he was heavily involved in directing Hezbollah’s operations against communities in Israeli territory and against IDF activities in southern Lebanon.
In our assessment, the presence of a senior figure such as Daqduq in the area south of the Litani River, may indicate one of two possible roles he held prior to his death. First, he may have been promoted and appointed commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, replacing Hajj Youssef Ismail Hashem, who had himself succeeded Ali Karaki. Hashem was eliminated on April 1, 2026. Alternatively, Daqduq may have been appointed commander of the Nasr Unit, replacing Hassan Salameh, who was eliminated on March 9, 2026.
Daqduq, a native of the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, located along the frontline near the Israeli border, possessed extensive operational experience. Over the course of his career, he served, among other roles, as a commander in the “Special Operations Unit” (the former name of the Radwan Unit), head of Nasrallah’s security apparatus, a commander within the Operations Department of the Nasr Unit, and, as noted above, commander of the Golan File Unit. This unit was responsible for establishing a terrorist infrastructure composed of dozens of cells made up of local Syrians from southern Syria who operated against Israel. In our assessment, Hezbollah is still attempting to utilize parts of this infrastructure for its purposes today.
Direct responsibility for the killing of American soldiers. In 2005, Daqduq moved to Iran, where he trained Iraqi militants in close cooperation with the Quds Force. He assisted in the establishment of several of the first armed militias that operated against U.S. military forces following the invasion of Iraq. One of these was Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (عصائب أهل الحق “League of the Righteous”), led by Qais al-Khazali.
Daqduq was directly involved in planning an operation that took place in January 2007, during which armed operatives disguised as American security personnel infiltrated a joint U.S.-Iraqi military facility in Karbala. They seized control of the compound, killed one American soldier, and took four others hostage. During their attempted escape, they executed the four captured soldiers. In March 2007, Daqduq was arrested and, during his interrogation, admitted that the attack had been carried out with the support and direct guidance of Iran’s Quds Force. In 2012, Daqduq was released by the Iraqi authorities and returned to Lebanon.
