Syrian military names new commander of 2nd Corps

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:00 A.M.) – The High Command of the Syrian Armed Forces has named a new commander of the 2nd Corps after announcing a major shuffle in the leadership of several units.

General Talal Makhlouf was named the commander of the 2nd Corps by the Syrian military after spending much of the war as the head of the Republican Guard forces.

According to a military communique, General Makhlouf was replaced as the supreme commander of the Republican Guard by the battle-tested Brigadier General Malek Aliaa.

General Makhlouf is the first cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the nephew of his mother Anissa Makhlouf Al-Assad.