Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Gunmen kill brother of Syrian parliament speaker

A Syrian baby cries as he lays on a swing attached to a tree at a displaced camp, in the Syrian village of Atma, near the Turkish border with Syria, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian baby cries as he lays on a swing attached to a tree at a displaced camp, in the Syrian village of Atma, near the Turkish border with Syria, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian boy who fled with his family from the violence in their village, carries water bottles at a displaced camp, in the Syrian village of Atma, near the Turkish border with Syria, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians standing at the scene after a blast occurred according to footage and reports shown on State-run Al-Ikhbariya television in the Mazzeh al-Jabal district of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. Several people were killed and injured, among them children, Al-Ikhbaria said. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians pushing a burnt car at the scene after a blast occurred according to footage and reports shown on State-run Al-Ikhbariya television in the Mazzeh al-Jabal district of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. Several people were killed and injured, among them children, Al-Ikhbaria said. (AP Photo/SANA)

In this Sunday, Nov. 04, 2012 photo, a damaged building is seen through a window after several weeks of intense battles between rebel fighters and the Syrian army in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria. The uprising against President Bashar Assad started with peaceful demonstrations in March last year, but has since morphed into a bloody civil war. Activists say more than 36,000 people have been killed in 19 months of fighting. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)

(AP) ? Gunmen shot and killed the brother of Syria's parliament speaker as he drove to work in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, the state-run news agency reported on Tuesday.

It was the latest in a wave of assassinations targeting Syrian officials, army officers and other prominent supporters of President Bashar Assad's regime. Four of the president's top security aides were killed in a rebel bombing of state security headquarters in Damascus on July 18, including the defense minister and Assad's brother-in-law.

The SANA news agency said Mohammed Osama Laham, brother of Parliament Speaker Jihad Laham, was killed in the Damascus neighborhood of Midan.

The killing came a day after some of the most intense fighting in Damascus in months. On Tuesday, activists and state media reported clashes, shelling and air raids in different parts of Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air raids on Houla, a group of villages in central province of Homs, killed seven people. The group also reported air raids on the Damascus suburbs of Douma and Maadamiyeh saying there are casualties without giving numbers.

SANA said six regime supporters were killed when 11 mortars rounds fell near a pro-government demonstration Monday night in the northern city of Aleppo.

The Observatory said Syrian troops shelled two villages on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights adding that government forces have been trying to take over the area for days.

On Monday, the Israeli military said a bullet from Syria struck one of its vehicles traveling on the Israeli side of the cease-fire line in the Golan Heights. No one was wounded in the incident. The Israel-Syria border has been quiet since a 1974 armistice agreement. Such incidents have been rare.

Israel is concerned that violence from Syria's civil war could spill into the country. Earlier this week, three Syrian tanks entered a demilitarized zone between the countries. Several Syrian shells, apparently misfired, have exploded inside Israel.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-06-Syria/id-16a74da0f21e48af805fc436e342523f

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