Syria bombing takes fight to Assad’s doorstep

BEIRUT — An audacious bombing aimed at the heart of Syria’s feared security services killed three high-ranking officials in Damascus and left President Bashar Assad’s grip on power appearing more tenuous than at any time during the 16-month uprising against his family dynasty.

Government reinforcements were reported to have been deployed in the streets of Damascus on Wednesday, a fourth day of fighting in the capital, which had largely been spared the violence racking much of the country.

The attack on national security headquarters was a graphic illustration of the shifting momentum in the conflict. It demonstrated that the decentralized and often ragtag rebel force, which has been battling security forces in the provinces for months, had succeeded in taking the fight to Assad’s doorstep, as it had long vowed to do.

And it exposed the inability of the Syrian security apparatus, long regarded as among the most effective and feared in the Middle East, to protect its own key leaders, much less put down a popular uprising.

But few were predicting that Assad’s regime would fall quickly or easily.

The bombing killed Syria’s defense minister, Daoud Rajha, and his deputy, Gen. Asef Shawkat, who reportedly was married to Assad’s older sister and was a member of the president’s inner circle. It also killed Gen. Hassan Turkmani, a former defense minister who served as an assistant vice president. Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ibrahim Shaar was injured.

Rumors swirled that Assad had left the capital or was preparing to declare a national state of emergency. The president did not appear on state television, fueling the rumor mill. Another rumor had his wife, Asma, leaving for Moscow. There was no confirmation of any of the reports.

State media reported that Assad had issued two decrees after Wednesday’s attack. He appointed Gen. Fahd Jassem Freij as the new defense minister.

The Free Syrian Army, the main umbrella rebel group, took responsibility for the strike and warned that more bombings were planned. It did not say how it managed to infiltrate the security establishment and plant the bomb. Official Syrian media initially said a suicide bomber was responsible, but later described the attack only as a bombing.

The confluence of heavy fighting in the capital and the bombing suggested for the first time in the conflict that Assad may be losing control and that the repressive infrastructure central to maintaining more than 40 years of family rule could be coming apart.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said in Washington that the bombing marked “a real escalation in the fighting” and that the situation in Syria was “rapidly spinning out of control.”

“Assad’s brother-in-law was one of the most powerful hard-line officials in the country. If the Free Syrian Army can get to him in Damascus, that is extraordinary,” said a senior Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If I’m some senior regime official and I’m thinking about my future, this would weigh heavily on me.”

Despite Wednesday’s losses, most of Assad’s inner core of hard-line supporters remains in place. Chief among them is his brother, Maher, who commands an important brigade.

Many of the highest-ranking officers are members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Many Alawites are fiercely loyal to Assad and have come to view the conflict as a fight for survival. The insurgency is dominated by members of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority.

In the field, regular forces maintain a substantial edge in firepower over the insurgents, who are mostly armed with rifles. The reported use of helicopter gunships and armored vehicles in the capital this week underscores the disparity in strength.

But a steady stream of defections has weakened the Syrian military. Each day brings new reports of desertions, often from the ranks of Sunni Muslim conscripts and officers. Defectors report that morale is low and the quality of equipment is eroding as the military grapples with a rebellion that has practically spread to the four corners of the country.