Leading Syrian rebel commander wounded in bomb attack
A leading commander of Syria's rebel forces lost a leg and is undergoing life-saving medical treatment after an apparent assassination attempt on the front line.
Riad al-Asaad, a colonel who leads Free Syria Army (FSA) operations, was targeted by an explosive device that hit his car in eastern Syria.
A spokesman for the FSA said Col Asaad had been the victim of an attack by regime loyalists in Mayadeen, eastern Syria.
"No matter who they kill and no matter what they destroy, the uprising against the regime will continue," Louay al-Muqdad, the spokesman told al-Arabiya television
Turkish officials confirmed comments from a relative of Col Asaad, who defected from the Syrian army in 2011, that he was being treated in hospital in Turkey.
"An explosive device exploded last night near the car carrying Free Syrian Army commander Riad Asaad, who was conducting a tour of the town of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province," Rami Abdel Rahman, the director the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.