By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – The head of Syria’s Air Defense Forces, General Hussein Ishaq, was reportedly killed in combat according to a security official. Ishaq died as a result of injuries suffered during an attack on the Air Defense headquarters near the town of Mleiha southwest of Damascus.

The director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said Gen Ishaq’s death was an “important psychological blow” to the regime. The observatory reported that General Ishaq was killed in clashes with fighters from the al-Nusra Front and other Islamic rebel groups. Because the rebel groups have no air force the Air Defense Forces are rarely used for defense and instead have been deployed against the rebel forces, bombarding rebel held areas. The Syrian Air Forces has conducted numerous bombardment campaigns against rebels and rebel held areas, often using destructive barrel bombs that indiscriminately target areas sympathetic to rebel forces. Rami Abdel Rahman told the press, “the regime’s Air Defense Force is to face a possible US attack, but in this war it is using its firepower against the rebels,”

The city of Mleiha has been under regime bombardment for more than a year but in recently weeks Mleiha has seen heavy fighting between regime and rebel forces which is strategically important due to its proximity to the capital. Forces loyal to the Assad Regime have carried out a heavy bombing campaign round the region. General Ishaq is one the only high ranking military officers to have been killed in the Syrian Civil war so far.

The Observatory reported that despite the regimes initial advancements in the city, rebels have regained ground and have seized several buildings around central town hall. While the military remains in control of the Capital of Damascus the rebel’s continue to hold a number of towns and villages on the outskirts of the city; despite frequent airstrikes and a crippling blockade enforced by the military.

More than 150,000 people have been killed over the past three years of Syria’s bloody Civil War and millions of civilians have become refugees and internally displaced peoples.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Syrian Air Force Chief Dies in Combat – 18 May 2014

BBC News – Syria War: Air Defense Chief Gen Hussein Ishaq Killed – 18 May 2014

Times of Israel – Syrian Air Force Chief Said Killed Near Damascus – 18 May 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Syrian Air Defense Chief Killed, Says Official – 18 May 2014