Top Syrian pro-regime official ‘assassinated’ in southern Lebanon

A prominent Syrian pro-regime figure was assassinated outside his home in southern Lebanon early on Wednesday, state-run media in Damascus reported.

Mohammed Darrar Jammo, a political analyst who often appeared on Arab TV stations, was gunned down outside his home in the coastal town of Sarafand by gunmen, the SANA news agency reported.

The town is in predominantly Shiite southern Lebanon where Assad enjoys wide support.

SANA blamed an "armed terrorist group" for the killing which took place at around 2 a.m.

Jammo was head of the political and international relations division of the International Organization for Arab Immigrants.

He was one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's strongest defenders, according to The Associated Press.

Assassinations of politicians, army officers and journalists are not uncommon in Syria but the killing in Lebanon of a Syrian figure is a rare incident, the news agency reported.

Jammo’s death is the latest spillover from Syria's civil war, now in its third year, into Lebanon, where people are divided between Assad supporters and opponents.

(With AFP and AP)