Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Five nuclear engineers have been assassinated in Syria.

The Syrian opposition said unknown gunmen ambushed a bus near a nuclear research center north of Damascus. The opposition said five engineers who worked for the facility was killed on Nov. 9.

This marked the second time in as many years that the Barzeh nuclear center was targeted.

“Unidentified attackers murdered five nuclear energy engineers who worked in the scientific research center near the neighborhood of Barzeh, northern Damascus,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In July 2013, six people were killed in a mortar attack by Sunni rebels. Two months earlier, a military research center was targeted by the Israel Air Force.

For years, Syria has sought to achieve nuclear capabilities. In 2007, the Israel Air Force destroyed a nuclear reactor constructed by North Korea in the northern province of Dir Al Zour.

But the El Watan news agency, aligned with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, blamed Al Qaida for the attack. El Watan said gunmen from the Nusra Front for the Defense of Levant opened fire on the engineers outside the research center.

Syrian Observatory released few details of the attack. The British-based opposition group said it did not know the nationalities of the engineers or how they were killed.

“Conflicted reports whether it was an improvised explosive device or opened fire on their bus,” Syrian Observatory said.

  Gunmen assassinate five Syrian nuclear engineers near research site, WorldTribune.com