As Fighting Rages, Syrian Air Force General is Assassinated

A bloody mess

DAMASCUS: A Syrian air force general has been assassinated in Damascus, state television said Tuesday, as air strikes pounded rebel bastions and fighting raged for control of areas around the capital and in the northwest.

"As part of their campaign to target national personalities and scientists, armed terrorist groups assassinated Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi in the Damascus district of Rukn al-Din," state television said, using the regime term for armed rebels. It gave no further details.

The general was a member of the Syrian Air Force command, a security source in Damascus told AFP on condition of anonymity. He was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend's home, the source added.