By The Associated Press
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians inspecting a damaged car at the scene of a car bomb exploded in the capital’s western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says the country’s prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. The TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack in the capital’s western neighborhood of Mazzeh. (AP Photo/SANA)
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition forces have targeted government officials, army and police officers and civil servants in their campaign to topple President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Here is a list of some of the major assassination attempts in Syria since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011:
—April 29, 2013: A bomb attached to a parked car detonates as Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi’s car drove by. Syrian state media reported the prime minister was not hurt in the bombing in the upscale Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh, which is home to many embassies and officials in Assad’s regime.
—March 21, 2013: A suicide bomber blows himself up in a mosque in central Damascus, killing Sheik Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti, a leading Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of Assad, and 41 others.
—Dec. 12, 2012: A car bomb targets the Interior Ministry in Damascus, wounding Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar. Initially, Syrian state media said al-Shaar was not hurt in the blast, but “several” were killed. News of his injuries emerged a week later, after he was brought to neighboring Lebanon for treatment.
—July 18, 2012: A blast at the Syrian national security building in Damascus during a high-level government crisis meeting kills four top regime officials, including Assad’s brother-in-law and the defense minister.
