Syrian defence minister killed in suicide bombing in Damascus
Posted July 18, 2012 8:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Syrian Defence Minister Daoud Rajha was killed by a bomb which exploded during a meeting of ministers and security officials at a national security building in Damascus on Wednesday, state television said.
His death and that of President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat is the most serious blow to President Bashar al-Assad’s high command in a 16-month-old revolt.
It was not clear whether Assad himself was present when a suicide bomber, said by a security source to be a bodyguard assigned to Assad’s inner circle, struck a security meeting in the Syrian capital as battles raged within sight of the presidential palace.
State television said Rajha and Shawkat were killed in a “terrorist bombing”. A Syrian security source confirmed 62-year old Shawkat was killed and said Intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar was wounded. State television said Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar had also been wounded in the blast.
The attack took place on a fourth day of fighting in the capital, where rebels from outside the city have brought the fight to end four decades of rule by the Assad family close to the power base of the ruling elite for the first time.
