Hilal al-Assad, cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was killed in fighting today near the Turkish border.
Al Arabiya reported:
A Syrian military official, who is also a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been killed on Sunday amid clashes with rebels near the border with Turkey, state news agency SANA reported.
Hilal al-Assad, the head of Syria’s National Defense paramilitary forces for the northwestern province of Latakia, was killed in fierce fighting Latakia’s border town of Kasab.
The National Defense Force is a militia set up to support the army in its three-year battle with rebels seeking to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights was quoted by Reuters as saying that Hilal was killed along with seven of his fighters in clashes with al-Nusra Front and other Islamist miltant groups.
Syrian troops and rebels have been fighting for control of Kasab since Friday.