Syria appoints chief of staff of armed forces as defense minister

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed General Fahd al-Jassem al-Freij to replace Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, who is killed in a bomb attack.

Freij, chief of staff of the armed forces, was appointed to the post on Wednesday hours after Rajiha was killed in a terrorist bomb attack at the headquarters of the National Security Bureau in the capital Damascus.

Syria’s Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat, Security Chief General Hisham Ikhtiyar and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani, were also killed in the explosion.

Many others, including Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, were injured in the attack. The minister is reportedly in stable condition now.

The terrorist Free Syrian Army (FSA) has claimed responsibility for the attack. The FSA has also warned of more violence in the capital in the coming days.

While some reports suggest that a bomber working as a bodyguard for the officials inside the building detonated the explosives he was carrying, the FSA claims that its forces had planted a bomb inside the room where the meeting was being held and that the group had been planning this for over a month.

Meanwhile, several explosions were reported close to the base of the military’s fourth division in the capital, which is responsible for guarding the presidential palace and led by President Assad’s brother. But Syria’s Information Minister Omran Zohbi denied that they had taken place.

In a media briefing shortly after the attack, Zohbi blamed Western spy agencies for the bombing.

The Syrian army has also pledged a crushing response to armed groups fighting against the government, stressing that it will continue to fight terrorism and wipe out criminal gangs.

“The terrorist act increases the armed forces’ determination to cleanse the country of terrorist groups,” the army said in a statement.