BEIRUT: Riad Al Asaad, commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, was wounded overnight in a blast that hit his car in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said.
A government official in Ankara confirmed Asaad had been hurt, saying he had lost a leg in the attack but that he was in “good condition” after being rushed across the Syrian border into Turkey for treatment.
“An explosive device exploded last night near the car carrying Free Syrian Army commander Riad Asaad, who was conducting a tour of the town of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Asaad’s deputy, Malik Al Kurdi, told Al Jazeera television he believed the Syrian government had tried to assassinate the FSA founder with a bomb planted directly below his car seat. He said Asaad had also suffered face wounds.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Turkish foreign ministry official confirmed Asaad was taken to Turkey yesterday via the Akcakale border crossing and was being treated at a hospital in Sanliurfa province near the border.
“He lost one leg but in general his condition is good,” the official said.
Asaad was one of the first officers to defect from the Syrian state military to the rebel forces, joining their ranks in 2011, not long after the uprising began.
AFP
