Hard blow to President Bashar al-Assad: three key people of the regime were killed yesterday in an attack. Damascus threatens to cleanse the country of gangs of terrorists. The regime of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gets blow after blow. While the number of soldiers and diplomats fleeing the country grows from every day, the leader in Damascus received yesterday worse news. His brother-in-law, Assefa Shawkat, was killed with Defence Minister Daoud Rajhi in an attack that targeted the headquarters of National Security.
Subsequently, it was announced that the head of the crisis cell in Syria also lost his life after the explosion. The attack took place precisely at a time of a meeting of Syrian ministers and was claimed by two groups. Free Syrian Army was the first to claim the attack. “This is the volcano we talked about. It is just the beginning”, said a representative of Free Syrian Army. Another claim came on Facebook from the Liwa el Islam Islamist group. It is not clear whether it was caused by a suicide attack or a bomb left inside.
Offensive of Free Syrian Army
It seems that it was the bodyguard of a person from the entourage of President al-Assad. The attack came two days after the Free Syrian Army, which is mainly composed by military deserters, announced an offensive to “liberate the capital” operation called “volcano in Damascus and earthquakes in Syria”. Ex-general, Rajhi was appointed Minister of Defense a year ago. He was blacklisted by the U.S. for his role in suppressing the rebellion.
According to sources, Rajhi was the only Orthodox Christian in Damascus government, dominated by the Alawi. Moreover, Christians, 10% of Syrian population, feel most vulnerable to the violence that swept the country and fear that Syria will become a new Iraq, where Christians are caught in the middle of the struggle between rival Muslim groups. General Shawkat, who married al-Assad’s sister, Bushra, was deputy defense minister, and considered one of the most feared men of the regime in Damascus.
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