The Lebanese Al-Ahed soccer club has announced the death of one of its footballers, killed Thursday fighting alongside Hezbollah’s forces in the ongoing battles in neighboring Syria.

The club wrote on its Facebook page Friday, November 4, that 19-year-old Kassem Shamkha was killed “while defending our nation and our land in confronting the terrorist takfiri tide.”

A source close to Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that Shamkha was killed repulsing an attack by gunmen on Thursday in western Aleppo.

The Lebanon Files website reported that six Hezbollah fighters were killed Thursday in Aleppo: Hussein Ali Asaad al-Mousawi, from the town of Qarha in the Bekaa Valley; Faris Mohamed Qatish from the town of Houla; Qassem Ali Shamkha from the town of Burj Qalaway; Khalil Mohamed Murtada from the al-Salam district of the southern suburbs; Shadi Ali al-Zein from the southern town of Jawiyeh; and Samer Adel Awada from the southern town of Ain Qana.

This coincided with the announcement by the Jaish al-Mujahideen which is part of the Fatah Halab (Aleppo Victory) Operations Room, that an entire group from Hezbollah was killed after being struck by a TOW rocket in the southern Aleppo countryside.

Hezbollah has suffered major losses in its ranks while participating in recent battles alongside the Syrian regime in the Aleppo countryside.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.