Lebanese footballer killed in Syria

A young footballer, who played in the Lebanon’s Premier League, has been killed fighting alongside Hezbollah in the battle for Syria’s Aleppo, a source close to the Shiite movement said. Kassem Shamkha was killed “while fighting off a rebel attack yesterday on western Aleppo,” the source said, referring to the government-held side of the city. The 19-year-old midfielder was from Burj al-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut. Since 2009, Shamkha had played for Hezbollah’s Al-Ahed football club, which has won Lebanon’s national championships four times.