BEIRUT (AP) — A bomb ripped through a high-level security meeting Wednesday in Damascus, killing three top regime officials — including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law — in the harshest blow to Syria's ruling family dynasty and the rebels' boldest attack in the country's civil war.

Syrian state-run TV said the blast came during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials in Damascus, which has seen four straight days of clashes between rebels and government troops.

The high-level assassinations could signal a turning point in the civil war as the violence becomes increasingly chaotic.