Beirut: Lebanon’s fighter Hezbollah group denied on Tuesday that a man captured in the Syrian capital of Damascus and shown in a video released by the rebels was one of its members.

The video purporting to show the captured Lebanese man followed another highly circulated rebel video on Monday, showing what the rebels claimed was the downing of a Syrian MiG and armed men later holding the captured pilot who ejected. Syria acknowledged a pilot had bailed out of a disabled plane but blamed the crash on a technical malfunction.

In the video with the Lebanese captive, a man identifies himself as Hassan Salim Al Mikdad, and says he was one of 1,500 Hezbollah fighters sent to Syria on August 3. The video was said to have been released by rebels and aired by Arab satellite TV Al Arabiya on Tuesday.

“Most of those who entered were snipers,” said the captive, whose face showed bruises as three masked gunmen stood behind him. A man, who could not be seen, was asking the hostage questions.

The captive then says that Hezbollah leader Shaikh Hassan Nasrallah gathered the men before they headed to Syria and told them that they should go to “support the Shiite regime and the Shiite army against Sunni gangs.”

The authenticity of the video could not be independently confirmed.

Hezbollah issued a statement early Tuesday saying it “categorically denies that Mr Hassan Salim Al Mikdad is one of its members.”

There have been several attacks and abductions in Syria of Shiites from Lebanon, Iran and Iraq over the past months that were blamed on Syrian rebels. In May, Syrian rebels captured 11 Lebanese Shiites shortly after they crossed from Turkey on their way to Lebanon.

Earlier this month, 48 Iranians were captured by Syrian rebels near Damascus. Rebels claim the Iranians include members of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard and were on a “reconnaissance mission” in the Syrian capital. Iran insists the men were on a religious pilgrimage.

The Lebanese are apparently held to try to pressure the government in Beirut to show greater support for the Syrian rebels — which is unlikely because of Hezbollah’s strong influence and backing of President Bashar Al Assad.