Came up on the news today that a bomb attack has killed several of the highest members of the Syrian government. The dead included the defense minister, Daoud Rajha, and Asef Shawkat, the president Assad's brother-in-law who was the deputy chief of staff of the Syrian military. Possibly dead and unconfirmed is the minister of interior.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18882149
The ministers were part of a crisis group put together to put down the rebels fighting in the capital over the last week. Their deaths come after direct threats to start shelling neighbourhoods of Damascus that rebels are concentrated in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/wo...pagewanted=all
Top Syrian ministers assassinated
