Top Syrian cleric Sheikh Mohammad Adnan Afyuni killed in Bomb blast in capital #Damascus #Syria pic.twitter.com/FWVKsWMb6n
— Press TV (@PressTV) October 22, 2020
| An Nahar adds: |
kaboom!outside the capital, state news agency SANA said.
Adnan al-Afiyuni, the Sunni Moslem mufti for Damascus province, was considered to be close to
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said he played a key role in reaching reconciliation deals with rebel fighters on the capital's outskirts during the country's nine-year war.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
At the time, Afiyuni said the center — which was to teach and train Islamic clerics while aiming to also host international scholars — would play a role to reform extremist ideas spread during the years of the conflict.
Explosions have been relatively rare in and around the capital since government forces expelled the last rebels and jihadists from its doorstep in 2018.
After a string of military victories backed by key ally Russia, the government has regained control of around 70 percent of the country, the Observatory says.
The monitor says Syria’s war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions from their homes since starting in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.