Syrian Rebels Blast Assad’s Inner Circle

JERUSALEM—Violence in Syria took a significant turn for the worse yesterday when a suicide bombing in Damascus killed three high-profile officials within President Bashar Assad’s government, including Assad’s brother-in-law and Syria’s defense minister.

The explosion deep in the heart of the capital “dealt a potent blow to the government, as much for where it took place as for the individuals who were targeted: the very cabinet ministers and intelligence chiefs who have coordinated the government’s iron-fisted approach to the uprising,” the New York Times reported Thursday. “The battle for the capital, the center of Assad family power, appears to have begun.”

The astounding security breach dramatically illustrates Assad’s weakening grasp of power over the nation. This now exposed vulnerability of the once iron-fisted regime is likely to increase high-level defections from the both the government and the military.

“The attack demonstrates that the rebels have deeply infiltrated the regime’s security apparatus, and that some portion of the regime’s security structure can be used against itself,” one military official told the Washington Post (July 19).

Assad now faces a difficult position in securing the capital, since pulling in more troops from outlying regions could encourage scattered rebels to rally.

Gunfire increased in the hours after the bombing as activists reported a flurry of attacks from government soldiers amid increased defections and causalities.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described the situation in Syria as “rapidly spinning out of control,” and multiple nations called upon the United Nations for increased sanctions on Syria.

As the situation in Syria continues to unravel, watch for a political upheaval that will ultimately lead to the prophesied break between Syria and Iran.