Damascus bombing claims fourth top ranking minister

Hisham Ikhtiyar, former Assad national security chief, dies from wounds sustained in Wednesday’s attack

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian TV says the country’s national security chief has died of wounds suffered in a rebel blast.

Gen. Hisham Ikhtiyar is the fourth member of President Bashar Assad’s inner circle to die in Wednesday’s bombing that targeted security chiefs meeting in the national security headquarters in Damascus.

The TV report said Thursday that Ikhtiyar died in a Damascus hospital.

The others killed in the blast were Gen. Assef Shawkat, the deputy defense minister who was married to Assad’s elder sister, Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha and Hassan Turkmani, a former defense minister.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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