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On June 27, the commander of a pro-government armed group was reportedly assassinated near the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The commander, Muhammad Faisal al-Taqi, was killed when an explosive device that was planted under his pickup truck blew up next to his house in the town of Jdaydet Artooz in Damascus’ southwestern outskirts. The blast didn’t kill or wound anyone else.
Al-Taqi commanded a small armed group that is said to be affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army’s elite 4th Armored Division.
No side has claimed responsibility for the assassination, so far. A number of terrorist groups, including ISIS and al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, orchestrated several similar deadly attacks in Damascus and its outskirts over the last few years.
In May, ISIS took credit for a bombing at a police station in Damascus’s highly-secured Barzeh neighborhood that claimed the life of two police officers and wounded at least four others.
The situation in Damascus and its outskirts remains stable for the most part. The recent terrorist attacks were likely an attempt to disturb peace and create chaos in the capital, which is closely guarded by the Syrian military, intelligence and security forces.
