Mufti of Damascus killed in car bombing near Syrian capital

Adnan Al Afyouni was seen as close to President Bashar Al Assad and headed a Syrian counter-extremism centre

President Bashar Al Assad greets Adnan Al Afyouni, the mufti of Damascus, at the inauguration of the International Sham Islamic Centre in the Syrian capital on May 20, 2019. Sana / AFP

A photo released by the Syrian state news agency shows Adnan Al Afyouni's damaged car after a bombing that killed him in the town of Qudsaya on October 22, 2020. Sana via Reuters

Damascus mufti Adnan Al Afyouni leads Eid Al Adha prayers in Daraya near Damascus on September 12, 2016, after the town was retaken from rebels under a reconciliation deal. Sana via AP

Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks with Damascus mufti Adnan Al Afyouni at the International Sham Islamic Centre in Damascus on May 20, 2019. Sana via AP

A prominent Syrian Muslim cleric in charge of the Damascus region was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded outside the capital on Thursday, the state news agency Sana said.

Adnan Al Afyouni, the Sunni Muslim mufti for Damascus province, was considered to be close to President Bashar Al Assad who hails from the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Sana said the cleric was also a member of the Scientific Council in Syria's Ministry of Endowments and the general supervisor of the International Islamic Sham Centre on confronting extremism.

He died "as the result of an explosive device planted in his car" in the town of Qudsaya, north-west of the capital, Sana quoted the endowments ministry as saying.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the 66-year-old cleric played a key role in reaching reconciliation deals with rebel fighters on the capital's outskirts during the country's nine-year-old war.

In September 2016, Al Afyouni led the prayers as the president made a rare public appearance to celebrate the Eid Al Adha holiday in Daraya outside Damascus after rebels evacuated the town the previous month under a surrender deal.

The cleric hailed Daraya as an example for Syria, saying it was "living proof for all Syrians that the only option available to you is reconciliation and abandoning fighting".

Explosions have been relatively rare in and around the capital since government forces expelled the last rebels and extremist groups from its doorstep in 2018 – one of a string of military victories backed by key ally Russia that has returned about 70 per cent of the country to Mr Al Assad's control.

Daraya was one of the first towns to stage protests against the government in 2011. The protests were met with a violent government crackdown, and the crisis eventually descended into a full-blown civil war that has devastated Syria and left millions homeless, displaced, imprisoned or dead.

Mr Al Assad described his opponents, including those who carried arms, as terrorists and empowered Islamic clerics and the Ministry of Awqaf to play a key role in combating extremism. The president appointed Al Afyouni as head of the newly International Islamic Sham Centre last year.

At the time, Al Afyouni said the centre – which was to train Islamic clerics while aiming to also host international scholars – would play a role in countering extremist ideas spread during the years of the conflict.