Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi, a senior Syrian air force general, has been killed in a Damascus suburb, state television reports.

Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi was shot dead late on Monday in the capital’s Rukn al-Din district, it said.

The attack appears to be the latest in a string of rebel attacks on high-level figures from President Bashar al-Assad’s administration.

In July a bomb killed the country’s defence minister and Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat.

“As part of their campaign to target national personalities and scientists, armed terrorist groups assassinated Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi in the Damascus district of Rukn al-Din,” the broadcaster said.

It added that he was one of Syria’s foremost experts in aviation.

Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi was also a member of the Syrian Air Force command, Agence France Presse reports.