BEIRUT — A former Syrian parliament member and three members of his family were killed Sunday in a rebel-held area near the northern city of Aleppo, the state news agency SANA reported. It said “terrorists,” the term the Syrian government uses for rebels, fired at Ibrahim Azzouz's car in Sheik Said neighborhood near the city's airport, killing him along with his wife and their two daughters. Rebels captured the strategic Sheik Said neighborhood southeast of Aleppo on Saturday. It was a significant blow to regime forces because the area includes the road the army has used to supply troops. Troops loyal to Assad and rebels have been locked in a deadly stalemate in Aleppo, Syria's largest urban center and main commercial hub, since an opposition assault last summer. Seven months later, the rebels hold large parts of the city and its outskirts, including several army bases, but they have been unable to overcome the regime's far superior firepower. — AP
