Updated below:
The foreign supported insurgency in Syria made hit-and-run attacks in some suburbs of the capitol Damascus. But those fights were isolated by government forces and seem now to die down as the insurgency has problems to sustain them. That may well be for a lack of personal:
Rebel commanders declared that the "Battle for Damascus" had begun, with fighters drafted into the city from other areas of the country as part of an operation they called "Damascus Volcano and Earthquakes of Syria".
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[H]e said that rebel units from Homs, Deraa and two other cities had been drafted into the capital.
This morning a suicide bomber killed the Syrian defense minister and the deputy defense minister during a security meeting. Syrian interior minister Muhammad Al Shaar and others were seriously wounded in the attack.
Ten days ago Hillary Clinton warned:
"The sooner there can be an end to the violence and a beginning of a political transition process, not only will fewer people die, but there is a chance to save the Syrian state from a catastrophic assault that would be very dangerous not only to Syria but to the region," Clinton said at a news conference.
Were the recent attacks and today's bombing the "catastrophic assault" she warned of? How did she know of them?
The news of who did these assassinations and how is currently foggy. The most interesting question is: Who gave the intelligence that enabled these assassinations?
The deputy defense minister Assef Shawkat is Bashar Assad's brother-in-law. Earlier this year the insurgency claimed to have killed the defense minister Dawoud Rajiha by food poisoning. He was an orthodox Christian. We can therefore be sure that his death will be a rather harsh part of talk the president of the Russian Federation Putin will have today with a major supporter of the insurgency, the Turkish prime minister Erdogan.
These assassination are surely as heavy hit for the Syrian government. But the result of that hit may not be what the insurgency wishes for: that the people in the government give up. My assessment is that the government's gloves will come off now and its response will be felt beyond the Syrian borders.
Update:
The Free Syrian Army in Turkey is claiming responsibility (as did some Jihadi group):
Riad al-Asaad said in a phone interview from his headquarters in Turkey that rebel forces planted a bomb inside a room where senior government officials were meeting Wednesday.
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The rebel leader denies government claims that it was a suicide attack, saying all those who carried out the operation are safe.
Time for another reminder: Syria went through a quite similar situation in the late 1970s when the Muslim Brotherhood led another insurrection against the Syrian state. There were many assassinations and assassination attempts, including on the then president Hafez al-Assad, as well as large attacks on government forces. The response was ferocious and the insurrection was put down.