TEL AVIV, January 9. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops eliminated the commander of the Southern Lebanon Region of Hezbollah's Aerial Unit, the IDF press service said on Tuesday.

"Today (Tuesday), an IAF aircraft eliminated Ali Hussein Barji, the Commander of the Southern Lebanon Region of Hezbollah's Aerial Unit. Ali led dozens of terror activities against Israel using explosive UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and surveillance UAVs against Israel and IDF soldiers. Ali also led the attack against the headquarters of the IDF Northern Command earlier today," the statement says.

Prior to the operation, a squadron belonging to Hezbollah's Aerial Unit which was on its way to launch explosive UAVs at a number of targets in Israel was eliminated, the IDF added.