Mufti of Damascus killed in car bombing - Syrian state news

The identify of the perpetrators of the attack was not published.

Evening over Damascus, Syria (photo credit: ANJČI/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Evening over Damascus, Syria
(photo credit: ANJČI/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
The Mufti of Damascus, Sheikh Mohammad Adnan Afyouni, was killed in a car bombing near Damascus on Thursday night, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
Afyouni was targeted by an explosive device planted on his car in a "terrorist act," according to the report. The mufti was a senior official who was close to Syrian President Bashar Assad and helped sign most of the reconciliation deals in the Damascus area with the Assad regime, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The SANA report did not identify who the perpetrators of the attack were.
The mufti headed the International Islamic Sham Center, which qualified Imams and preachers around Syria, taught religious sciences and monitored and combated "extremist mentalities," according to SANA.