Revolution Union: Assad bodyguards killed in rebels attack

Syrian revolution Coordinators Union reported killing 3 of Bashar al-Assad's bodyguards yesterday after the rebels attack on Assad's motorcade in the capital, Damascus, as he was heading a mosque for morning prayers on Id al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

An opposition source to Zaman Alwasl said, ''We have unconfirmed information that Russian Intelligence agents have cooperated with rebels in the security breach of Assad's motorcade.''

The Revolution Uunion reported an intensive security presence in front of al-chamy Hospital in al-Malki neighborhood what assured that number of high-ranked republican guard generals were killed and wounded during the attack, the Union said. 

Activists documented killing of Col. Ahmed Ali, Lieutenant Col. Azzam Merhej and Major. Salman Abboud.  

Video released by rebel groups showed smoke rising over al-Malki, the upscale neighborhood in central Damascus where Mr. Assad lives and where, in calmer times, he was known for driving his own car. The area has been relatively untouched by the occasional rebel shells that reach central Damascus, which is largely cordoned off from the fighting by government checkpoints, NYtimes said.

If the rebel assertions are true, the attack would be the closest call known for Mr. Assad during the conflict. Last summer, four of his top officials were killed in a rebel bombing, and shells have periodically landed close to some of his many residences, but Mr. Assad is not known to have personally come under fire, NYtimes said.

If the rebels managed to target and hit a moving motorcade, it would signal an unusual tactical feat or perhaps new weapons more precise than the usual rockets and mortars, as well as good intelligence.

Al Arabiya, a news broadcaster based in Dubai, quoted one rebel group, Tahrir al-Sham Brigade, a unit of the Free Syrian Army, as saying in a statement: “After conducting reconnaissance on the timing and course of Bashar al-Assad’s motorcade, the area was hit with artillery. We pray to God and await the field report about the results.”

Al Arabiya also quoted Islam Alloush, a rebel with another group, the Liwa al-Islam Brigade, as saying fighters had fired rockets at Mr. Assad’s motorcade near the Dedeman Damascus Hotel.

“Assad was not hit, but the information we have based from sources within the regime is that there were casualties within his entourage,” the statement said.

There was little clarity about the rebel statements.

Syrian state television showed Assad next to Syria’s grand mufti, Sheik Ahmad Badr al-Deen Hassoun, standing and praying in a row of men in suits. It was unclear whether the video was new.

In a possible sign of greater support for the rebels from an Arab country, on Thursday Jordan allowed the leader of Syria’s main opposition group to cross into Syria from Jordanian territory for the first time, news agencies reported.