Syria rebels 'bomb Air Force Intelligence complex'

Rebels in Syria are reported to have carried out a bomb attack overnight on an intelligence agency compound in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.

The al-Nusra Front, a jihadist militant group, said suicide bombers had blown themselves up outside the Air Force Intelligence (AFI) complex in Harasta, BBC reports.

Activists and residents said there were huge explosions, followed by clashes involving machine-guns and mortars.
AFI is seen by some as the elite agency of Syria's intelligence empire.

Though smaller than Military Intelligence, in the past it has played a leading role in operations against Islamist opposition groups.
The agency is currently commanded by Maj Gen Jamil Hassan, a member of President Bashar al-Assad's minority Alawite sect.