On 18 July 2012, a bombing occurred at the National Security headquarters in Rawda Square, Damascus. Syrian state-owned television reported that it was a suicide attack while the opposition claims it was a remotely detonated bomb.

Bombing

The attack resulted in the deaths of the Syrian Defense Minister General Dawoud Rajiha during a meeting of ministers and a number of heads of security agencies.^[1] Also killed were Assef Shawkat, President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and deputy defense minister,^[2] the assistant to the vice president General Hasan Turkmani,^[3][4] and Hafez Makhlouf, head of investigations at the Syrian Intelligence Agency.^[5] The country's intelligence chief Hisham Bekhityar was seriously wounded.^[6] There were conflicting reports on the fate of the Interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar with initial accounts stating that he had also been killed, but later state TV reported that he survived although wounded.^[7] Additional reports stated that he was in stable condition.^[8] Al-Shaar was reported dead later, according to al Jazeera.^[9] Mohammad Said Bakhtian, the national secretary of the Ba'ath Party, was also wounded in the bombing.^[10] Press TV provided a conflicting report, indicating that Hisham Bekhityar had died in the bombing and that Mohammad al-Shaar had been wounded.^[11]

Perpetrator

The bomber was reportedly a bodyguard of one of the meeting's attendants.^[12] The opposition meanwhile claimed that the cause of the explosion was not a suicide bomber, but that a rebel insider planted bombs inside the building and detonated it remotely from a distant location.^[13] The Islamist Liwa al Islam ("The Brigade of Islam")^[14] and the Free Syrian Army both claimed responsibility for the bombing.^[15] Louay al-Mokdad, the Free Syrian Army’s logistical coordinator, claimed that the attack was perpetrated by a group of Free Syrian Army members in coordination with drivers and bodyguards working for Assad’s high-ranking officials.^[16]

It was further stated that the two explosion devices, one made of twenty-five pounds of TNT, and the other a smaller 'C4’ plastic explosive device, had been put in the room days before the meeting by a person working for Hisham Bekhtyar.^[16]

Reaction

Domestic

Although there were no statements from President Assad himself, Syrian TV said after the attack that a decree from him named Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij, who used to be the army chief of staff, as the new defense minister.^[17] Syrian state television said foreign-backed terrorists had carried out the attack. The country's armed forces said in a statement that Syria was "determined to confront all forms of terrorism and chop off any hand that harms national security".^[18]

The following day Syrian state television broadcasted images of President Assad at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, cutting short speculation fueled by his silence following the attack against his inner circle the previous day. In the images broadcast by the television, Assad was seen in blue suit, receiving the new defense minister, Gen. Fahd Al-Freij, after the swearing ceremony.^[19]

International

•  Iran - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the bombing, adding that "the only way of resolving the current crisis in Syria is through talks."^[20]
•  Israel - Defense Minister Ehud Barak urgently summoned intelligence and security officials to discuss possible implications of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria. They included Chief of the General Staff of the IDF Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz and heads of the Northern Command, Military Intelligence Department, the Planning Directorate and the various IDF branches.^[21]
•  Jordan - King Abdullah II stated that this assassination of members of Assad's inner circle is a "tremendous blow to the regime."^[22]
•  Russia - Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement "Moscow strongly condemns terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations. We hope that the organizers of the Damascus terrorist act will be found and punished".^[23] Press secretary of Russian President Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said "As a whole the existing exchange of opinions shows that the appraisals of the situation in Syria and final goals of regulating (violence) for both sides coincide".^[24]
•  Turkey - PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacted negatively to Syria's explaination of the event.^[25]
•  United Kingdom - United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron said "I have a very clear message for President Assad. It is time for him to go. It is time for transition in the regime." ^[26]
•  United States - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the country was "rapidly spinning out of control", adding that "the international community must bring maximum pressure on Assad to do what's right, to step down and to allow for that peaceful transition".^[24]
•  Venezuela - The Foreign Ministry condemned the bombing in Damascus and urged foreign powers against military intervention.^[27]