7 Nov 2012

Speaker's brother killed

10:08 am on 7 November 2012

The brother of the speaker of parliament in Syria has shot dead by gunmen.

State television says Mohammed Osama al-Laham was assassinated in the Midan district.

Explosions also occurred northwest of the capital, where elite troops are housed.

State media say at least 10 people were killed and 30 wounded.

Opposition activists believe there were three explosions and at least 15 died.

In a separate incident, a car bomb near a shopping mall in the neighbourhood of Ibn al-Nafis, killed and injured several people.