23/10/2020

SYRIA: Mufti of Daramsuq (Damascus) Adnan Afyouni assassinated in Qudsaya city

QUDSAYA, DARAMSUQ, Syria – An explosive device was planted by unknown people in the car of the Mufti of the Syrian capital Daramsuq (Damascus) Adnan Afyouni killing the Sunni Mufti near the Sahaba Mosque in Qudsaya city in the countryside of the capital. Afyouni is considered a close associates of the head of the Syrian Baath regime and the security apparatus. He was a religious authority and played a prominent role in most of the reconciliations in the countryside of Daramsuq and appeared alongside al-Assad in various ceremonies.

The regime’s Syrian Arab News Agency reported that Afyouni “was martyred on Thursday evening in a terrorist blast that targeted his car in Qudsaya town in Damascus countryside.”

Adnan Afyouni assumed his duties in May 2019, under the direction of the President of the Syrian Baath regime Bashar al-Assad. He was assigned head of Al-Sham International Islamic Center for Combating Terrorism and Extremism in Daramsuq. The center includes departments for training imams and preachers, scientific and forensic science, and monitoring and treatment of extremist ideas.

No terrorist militia or group has so far taken responsibility or been blamed for the high-profile religious assassination.