Hezbollah commander's assassination in Lebanon linked to Syrian war Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin of Hassan al-Laqis, a senior commander killed as he was returning home from work. Baalbak, Lebanon: A senior member of Hezbollah has blamed groups sympathetic to Syria's rebels for the assassination of a top Hezbollah military commander as he was returning home from work early on Wednesday. Hassan al-Laqis was shot repeatedly in the head and neck with small-calibre pistols, apparently equipped with silencers, in a southern Beirut neighbourhood, according to Lebanese security officials and Hezbollah members. The Lebanon-based militant group initially accused Israel - a charge that country denied - but speaking at al-Laqis' funeral in the afternoon, Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek, a senior Hezbollah official, linked the assassination to recent attacks that Hezbollah and Lebanese government officials have pinned on Syrian rebels and their Sunni Muslim supporters. "The people responsible for the martyr's assassination are the same ones behind the explosions in Dahiyeh's al-Roueiss and the foiled car-bomb attack in Dahiyeh's Maamoura," Sheikh Yazbek said, referring to bombings in southern Beirut's Shiite Muslim suburb. He then accused the Lebanese government of failing to protect the Shiite community and said that failure justified Hezbollah's recent security measures. "The security events in Lebanon are the state's responsibility, but when the state abandons its responsibility, it is up to us to protect our people and families," he said. What steps Hezbollah might take in response to the killing weren't immediately clear. The assassination was the latest in spiraling violence in Lebanon tied to the civil war in Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have assumed a key supporting role in backing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A previously unknown group, the Brigades of the Free Sunnis of Baalbak, took responsibility for the killing, describing al-Laqis as "the architect of the massacre of Qusayr," a reference to last spring's bitter fight for control of a Syrian city on the border with Lebanon. It had been a key conduit for rebels smuggling people and weapons into Syria before pro-Assad forces recaptured it. Hezbollah played a crucial role in the fight to retake the city, which had been in rebel hands for nearly two years. While many of the older mourners were crying, one unit of Hezbollah fighters could be seen leaving the funeral in reasonably good cheer despite the loss of their commander. "Death has become normal for all these kids," said one resident of a Hezbollah-controlled area who has family members in the group. They look like they're joking around, but really it doesn't bother them that much because they've all accepted this is going to happen. They died the day they joined. Hezbollah's strong military backing for the Syrian regime continues to strain relations with Lebanon's Sunni community, which is distrustful not only of Hezbollah's Shiite sect but also of its ties to Iran. Lebanese Sunnis have supported the anti-Assad rebels, housing tens of thousands of refugees from the fighting as well as supplying men, money and weapons to the rebels. This schism has paralysed a Lebanese state whose people generally consider it ineffectual even under the best conditions. The northern city of Tripoli has seen near-constant violence over the last week as pro- and anti-Assad groups have squared off in a series of street battles. Lebanese security authorities recently have grown concerned that rebel fighters have been pushed off the Syrian battlefield and might be attempting to open a new front in Lebanon. Al-Laqis' assassination came just two weeks after twin suicide bombings in Beirut targeted the Iranian embassy there, killing 23 people, including Iran's cultural attache. On Tuesday night, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah directly accused Saudi Arabia, a strong backer of the Syrian rebels, of fostering violence against Hezbollah in Lebanon.