A prominent Shia Muslim imam was killed in a targeted bomb blast in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of Damascus on Friday, according to Syrian state media and monitoring groups.

The victim, Imam Farhan Hassan al-Mansour, served at the revered Sayyida Zeinab shrine, Syria’s most significant Shia pilgrimage site.

State television reported that Mansour was killed in an explosion within the district, prompting security agencies to launch an immediate investigation and a manhunt for the perpetrators.

Syria’s highest Shia spiritual authority confirmed the death in a statement, noting that Mansour was assassinated when an explosive device targeted his vehicle.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, added that the blast occurred shortly after the imam had left the shrine premises.

The assassination comes amid heightened security concerns for religious minorities following the December 2024 transition of power, which saw Islamist forces overthrow the longtime government of Bashar al-Assad.

While Shia leaders have publicly supported the new administration—meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who pledged to protect the country’s multi-sectarian fabric—the past year has been marred by a series of targeted attacks.

Sectarian violence has escalated across the country over the last year, including massacres in Alawite coastal regions, clashes involving the Druze minority in the south, and a suicide bombing at an Orthodox church in Damascus.

This latest incident follows the July 2024 assassination of another influential Shia cleric, Sheikh Rassul Shahud, in central Syria.

The Sayyida Zeinab district, formerly a stronghold for pro-Iran groups prior to the change in government, has long been a target for extremists.

In February 2025, Syrian authorities reported the arrest of an Islamic State commander allegedly plotting an attack on the shrine.

Shia Muslims are a small minority in Sunni-majority Syria, with an estimated population of 300,000 concentrated primarily in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, and Idlib.

Source: AFP