Israeli naval commandos assassinated a top Syrian general in 2008, NSA documents reveal. PHOTO: NRG.

U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) documents leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden revealed that Israel’s Shayetet 13 naval commandos were responsible for assassinating in 2008 a ranking official of the Assad regime, Israeli media reported, citing The Intercept.

General Mohammad Suleiman was a senior military and intelligence adviser to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and was believed to be behind the Syrian government’s transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Suleiman was also apparently responsible for Syria’s nuclear facility in the Deir ez-Zor region, which is believed to have been destroyed by Israel in 2007.

According to the report, in the beginning of August 2008, a small team of Israeli commandos entered Syrian waters near the coastal city of Tartus, and shot the Syrian general to death as he was eating dinner on his balcony.

After confirming their kill, the Israeli military force returned home by way of the sea.

At the time, Syrian sources confirmed that Suleiman was shot in the head and neck.

Even though Israel has never admitted involvement in the assassination, U.S. intelligence groups have in the past suggested that an Israeli force carried out the assassination.

“We’ve had access to Israeli military communications for some time,” a former U.S. intelligence official told The Intercept, adding that knowledge within the NSA about monitoring Israeli military units is highly sensitive because Israeli intelligence officers work closely with NSA officers at its Fort Meade headquarters.