Syrian Prime Minister Survives Damascus Bombing, Six Die
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, state media and activists said, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad’s capital.
Six people were killed in the blast, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, the latest in a series of rebel attacks on government targets including a December bombing which wounded Assad’s interior minister.
Halki wields little power but the attack highlighted the rebels’ growing ability to target symbols of Assad’s authority in a civil war which has cost more than 70,000 lives, according to the United Nations.
More: Syrian Prime Minister Survives Damascus Bombing, Six Die