Syrian rebel leader injured by bomb

A top rebel military leader has been injured and possibly killed by a bomb attached to his car, Syrian activists said today.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast targeted Colonel Riad al-Asaad during a visit to the town of Mayadeen in eastern Syria.

Col. al-Asaad is a prominent army defector who became head of the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella group which tried to gather rebel fighters under a unified command.

But he became little more than a figurehead and his group has been superseded by the Office of the Chiefs of Staff, associated with the opposition Syrian National Coalition.

The Observatory reported conflicting reports on Col al-Asaad’s fate, with some saying he had been killed and others saying he had lost a leg.