Gunmen kill senior Syrian official in Damascus: Report

Gunmen shot dead a senior Syrian military doctor outside his home in northern Damascus on Saturday, the state news agency SANA said.

It said "an armed terrorist group" killed Brigadier-General Issa al-Khouli, who it described as a doctor and hospital director, in the Rukneddine district of the Syrian capital.

Khouli was the most senior official to be reported killed in Damascus since the start of an 11-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Most of the violence has been outside the two main cities of Damascus and Aleppo, but rebel fighters briefly seized control of Damascus suburbs last month and two car bombs killed 28 people in Aleppo on Friday.