‘Israeli Commandos’ Killed Top Syrian Official – Leaked US Files

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Israeli special forces were responsible for the assassination of a Syrian military official in 2008, a leaked US intelligence file says. Brig Gen Mohammed Suleiman was shot by a sniper while at a beach resort near the Mediterranean port of Tartous. BBC has more:

Israel has never commented publicly on suspicions that it was involved. But a document leaked to The Intercept website by American whistleblower Edward Snowden says Israeli naval commandos were behind the shooting.

Former US intelligence officers said its classification markings indicated the National Security Agency (NSA), for whom Mr Snowden worked as a contractor, had made the discovery through monitoring Israeli communications.

Arab media reported at the time of Suleiman’s killing said he was shot in the head and neck by a sniper on board a yacht on the night of 1 August 2008 while he was having dinner at his beachfront home.

Some sources said Suleiman was President Bashar al-Assad top security aide; others that he served as Syria’s “liaison” with the militant Lebanese Shia movement, Hezbollah.