Hezbollah's announcement, which blamed Israel for the killing, did not say how Mughniyeh died. But it came just hours after the car bombing in Damascus late Tuesday, in which eyewitnesses said a passerby was killed. The bomb destroyed the car that it was placed under, and damaged at least 10 others. Syrian security officials quickly towed away the wreckage of the destroyed car and sealed off the area.

There was no reference to the bombing in the Syrian media on Wednesday. But an Iranian satellite channel, Press TV, said Wednesday that the person killed in the Syrian bombing was believed to be Mughniyeh.