Syria Rejects Claim Assad Motorcade Was Hit in Shelling

President Appears on TV Unharmed After Attack

Rebel shelling against a neighborhood in the Syrian capital city of Damascus sparked reports from multiple rebel factions claiming to have hit President Bashar Assad’s motorcade, but the Syrian state media has insisted the claims are untrue.

Whether the motorcade was hit or not, the president was at any rate unharmed, and appeared on TV as he attended prayers for Eid al-Fitr at the Anas bin Malik Mosque entirely unscathed.

Mortar and rocket strikes were confirmed in the general vicinity of the mosque during the time of Assad’s visit, but there has been no confirmation of what exactly what, if anything, got hit in the firing.

The two rebel factions, Liwa Tahrir al-Sham and Liwa al-Islam both claimed to be firing the shells, though it isn’t unusual for groups to try to take credit for one another’s successful hits. Opposition figures familiar with the situation suggested that the motorcade may have been forced to change its path because of the shelling, but was definitely not directly hit.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.