A top Syrian scientist linked to the development of chemical weapons was killed in a bombing over the weekend, Arab media reported Sunday.
According to the pro-Syrian government newspaper al-Watan, Aziz Azbar, head of the Scientific Research and Studies Center in Masyaf, in northwest Syria, was killed along with his driver on Saturday night when a bomb attached to their car exploded.
The incident was not confirmed by any official Syrian source.
The deaths were reported by a number of Syrian and Lebanese news outlets. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported of the incident, as did several websites linked to the Syrian army.
The Observatory for Human Rights said Azbar was close to both Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Iranian regime.
It is believed Tehran is using the Masyaf facility to develop and produce weapons, the group said.
The Scientific Research and Studies Center has been the target of at least two airstrikes attributed to Israel, including one in late April, in which several Iranian officers were killed.
Western officials have long associated the center with the production of chemical weapons and Iranian missile development efforts.
