Close friend of Syrian president killed in battle: DEBKAfile sources
DEBKAfile's military sources report Wednesday evening that Col. Tareq Hamoud, former head of the country's intelligence service, was killed Monday in the area of Quneitra on the Syrian Golan. He was said to have died in a direct hit by a shell fired by rebels. Hamoud was deployed on the Golan front because President Bashar Assad, Hamoud's close friend and confidant, wanted an officer he could trust in the area. When Assad served in the Syrian military, he and Hamoud served in the same units and took the same courses.