Car bomb kills head of Syrian research center

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A Syrian opposition group has claimed responsibility for the killing of the head of a research facility whose car was blown up.

Aziz Asber was the director of the Syrian Scientific Research Center in Masyaf, near the city of Hama, that Western governments say was a covert government installation that was part of a chemical weapons program.

“(Asber) died after an explosion targeted his car in the Hama countryside,” the pro-government newspaper al-Watan said on Sunday in an online report.

The Syrian Scientific Research Center was hit by US, British and French military strikes over a suspected chemical attack against civilians, in Barzeh, Syria, April 14, 2018. /VCG Photo

The attack was claimed by a group affiliated to rebel group Tahrir al-Sham. It includes the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which served as al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.

The Abu Amara Brigades released a statement on their Telegram online channel saying they “planted explosive devices” which detonated and killed Asber.

The explosion occurred on Saturday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitoring group said.

In April, missile strikes by the United States, Britain and France destroyed a Syrian Scientific Research Center facility in Damascus, in response to a suspected poison gas attack.

(Top image: The destroyed Scientific Research Center is seen in Damascus, April 14, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters