Farhan al-Mansour killed in Damascus car bomb attack
Updated
Updated · Asharq Al-awsat - English · May 3
Farhan al-Mansour killed in Damascus car bomb attack
11 articles · Updated · Asharq Al-awsat - English · May 3
The imam at Sayyida Zainab shrine south of Damascus died on Friday, and Syria's Interior Ministry called it a dangerous escalation and opened an investigation.
Officials said the killing targeted religious and social figures to incite sectarian strife; analysts and Damascus sources said Iran-linked, Hezbollah-connected cells were possible suspects, though ISIS or others were not ruled out.
The attack deepens anxiety among Syria's roughly 300,000 Shiites after Assad's 2024 fall, following recent alleged Hezbollah cell busts and earlier foiled attacks in Sayyida Zainab and Damascus.
Who truly gains from killing a cleric who preached stability and rejected foreign influence in post-Assad Syria?
A key government ally is now dead. Is Syria's new regime already losing its grip on the country's security?
With the US gone, can Syria's new leader prevent a war between ISIS and pro-Iranian militias on his soil?