On September 2, the head of a police department in the western countryside of Damascus was wounded in an assassination attempt.
Major Muhammad al-Ahmad sustained wounds in his right left when an explosive device that was planted under his vehicle blew up as he was driving to his work in the village of Heeneh, the Syrian Ministry of Interior said in a statement, adding that the officer was taken to a hospital in Damascus for treatment.
The officer is the head of the police department in Sasa, a key town that is located midway between Damascus and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
No side has claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt so far. The attempt may have been orchestrated by a terrorist group like ISIS and al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham who carried out several attacks, including assassinations, in Damascus and its countryside in recent years.
It is also possible that the assassination attempt was prepared by Israeli intelligence, especially that police officers from the Sasa department usually operate in the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights.
Damascus and its outskirts are tightly guarded by the Syrian military, intelligence and police. Still, terrorist attacks are reported there from time to time.
Last July, six people were killed and many others were wounded in a bombing at the Sayeda Zeinab shrine town south of Damascus. Back then, ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC: