TNI Bureau: In a shocking tragedy yesterday, a suicide blast killed Syria’s Defence Minister Dawoud Rajha (65) and Deputy Defence Minister General Assef Shawkat, triggering a big crisis in that country.
The blast occurred at the National Security Building in the Syrian capital Damascus. General Assef Shawkat was the brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad. Dawoud Rajha was the seniormost Cabinet Minister in the country.
Interior minister Mohammed Shaar was wounded in the attack, while General Hassan Turkmani, head of the government’s crisis cell and assistant to the Syrian vice president, also died in the blast.