As the most intense fighting in the capital of Syria continues in the 16 month uprising in that country, a suicide bomber set off explosives in the National Security Building in Damascus.

A high-level meeting was taking place when the blast occurred. Among those killed in the blast was Defense Minister Daoud Rajha, Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat, and Syrian General Hassan Turkmani. Rajha is now the most senior official killed in the Syrian Civil War thus far, and the first prominent official to be assasinated in the conflict. Shawkat was the brother-in-law to President Bashar al-Assad.

Shortly after the blast, which was claimed by the rebel Free Syrian Army, the Syrian government named armed forces chief of staff Fahed al-Jasem el-Freij as the new Defense Minister. A second group, the Brigade of Islam, according to Reuters, has also claimed responsibility for the blast.

Concern has gripped European leaders, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said the attack shows there is an urgent need for a new U.N. resolution. William Hague, Britain’s Foreign Secretary says that the bombing indicated that the situation in Syria is “deteriorating rapidly.

The U.N. is to vote today on an extension of the Observor mission in Syria. The United States along with Germany, France and Britain want to add the threat of sanctions to the extension resolution. Russia has vowed to veto an extension resolution if sanctions are included. China is expected to follow Russia’s lead. China is opposed to foreign intervention in Syrian affairs.