Lebanese group Hezbollah mourned one of its top commanders who was killed fighting alongside Syrian army forces in Idlib province, in a funeral procession broadcast live on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV on Monday.
Pallbearers dressed in camouflage military fatigues processed slowly to solemn trumpet music with the coffin of Hassan al-Haj, a veteran commander of the Shi'ite movement, which was draped in a yellow Hezbollah flag.
The coffin was then driven through towns in southern Lebanon, Hebzollah's stronghold, in a convoy of black cars and ambulances.
Haj was to be buried in his hometown of al-Luwaizeh in the Tuffah region at 4:00 p.m., two days after his death in clashes with Syrian rebels in Idlib.
Hezbollah has played a crucial role fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the four-year civil war across the border. In the last two days, it has helped recapture territory from insurgents in Hama and Idlib provinces where Russian forces backing Assad have been bombing.
Al-Manar said Haj, born in 1965, had in his 20s been a top commander in southern Lebanon in battles against Israel.
"He participated in most of the jihad operations, especially in the 1980s when he was commander of the Tuffah region" it said, referring to him as "the martyr commander Abu Mohammed" and showing footage of him test-firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle and other weapons.
Mourners waving Hezbollah flags threw rice on the coffin before it departed in convoy and recited Shi'ite Muslim prayers for the dead invoking the Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.