The wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has undergone a "successful" operation as part of treatment for early-stage breast cancer, the presidency said on Sunday. "Asma al-Assad continues her treatment against the malignant tumour," it said on its Facebook page.

"Breast surgery at the Damascus military hospital has been successful," it added. The presidency announced in August that the first lady had begun treatment for "a malignant tumour in the breast that was discovered at an early stage". Since then, the presidency's social media accounts have often showed her with a scarf knotted elegantly around her head, visiting children cancer patients, wounded soldiers, or attending charity events.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019