Syria on Brink After Explosion Strikes Heart of Assad's Rule

July 18, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Four of President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle are dead after a bomb exploded at their security meeting in Damascus. Syria's Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha and his Deputy Assef Shawkat, who was also Assad's brother-in-law were killed, along with Deputy Vice President Hassan Turkmani and Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim al-Shaar. Al Jazeera's James Bays reports.

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Battle of Damascus

The Battle of Damascus, also known as Operation Damascus Volcano, started on 15 July 2012 during the Syrian uprising. Explore this topic

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Damascus

Damascus, commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine, is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo. It borders Quneitra, Daraa and As-Suwayda to the south, Jordan to the east, Homs to the north, and Lebanon to the west. It is a... Explore this topic

Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

Assef Shawkat

Assef Shawkat was the deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012. He was assassinated along with two other top Syrian government officials by a bomb attack in Damascus on 18 July 2012. Explore this topic

Dawoud Rajiha

Dawoud Abdallah Rajiha, forename sometimes transliterated Dawood or Daoud, surname sometimes transliterated Rajha, was the Syrian minister of defense from 2011 to July 2012 when he was assassinated along with other senior military officers by armed opposition forces during the... Explore this topic

Suicide attack

A suicide attack is an attack upon a target, in which an attacker intends to kill others and/or cause great damage, knowing that he or she will either certainly or most likely die in the process. Between 1981 and 2006, 1200 suicide attacks occurred around the world, constituti... Explore this topic

Bashar al-Assad

Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He has served as President since 2000, when he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 30 years prior to his death. Al-Assa... Explore this topic

Street fighting

Street fighting is hand-to-hand fighting in public places, between individuals or groups of people. Unlike sport fighting, a street fight might involve weapons, multiple opponents or revenge and has no rules. The venue is usually a public place and the fight often results in a... Explore this topic

Defence minister

The title Defence Minister, Minister of Defence or Minister for Defence is assigned to a person in a cabinet position in charge of a Ministry of Defence, which regulates the armed forces in some sovereign nations. The minister usually has a very important role in a cabinet. Wh... Explore this topic

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Battle of Damascus

Syrian Civil War

Damascus

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