Gunmen assassinate army general in Damascus

ADDS DETAIL ABOUT LOCATION - In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian security forces walk on the wreckage of a damaged Syrian military intelligence building at a security compound which was attacked by an explosion, in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, on Friday Feb. 10, 2012. Two explosions targeted security compounds in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, state media said, causing an unspecified number of casualties in a major city seen as key to President Bashar Assad's grip on power. (AP Photo/SANA) (Anonymous)

BEIRUT — Syria's state-run news agency says gunmen have assassinated an army general in the capital Damascus.

It's the first killing of a high military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March.

The SANA news agency says three gunmen opened fire at Brig. Gen. Issa al-Khouli on Saturday morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital. The attack indicates that violence in Syria is reaching the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities.

Assad's crackdown of the uprising has killed more than 5,400 people, according to U.N. figures.

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