Syrias former military commander linked to 1982 Hama massacre is identified

Rifaat al-Assad, a former Syrian vice president and commander of the paramilitary “Defence Companies”, has died at the age of 89. According to Reuters, two sources confirmed his death on January 21, 2026.

Born in Qardaha, northwestern Syria in 1937, Rifaat was a member of the Alawite minority and played a central role in establishing the Assad family’s rule in the 1970s. He had previously served as commander of the Defence Companies, a force of approximately 40,000 soldiers independent of the regular army.

Rifaat was involved in several significant events during his career, including the 1982 crackdown on the city of Hama to suppress an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. The operation resulted in approximately 40,000 deaths and 17,000 people went missing, according to a 2022 report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

In the late 1970s, Rifaat advocated for extreme measures to address internal opposition within the regime. He was later stripped of his command and appointed as vice president after attempting a failed coup in November 1983.

Rifaat spent 36 years primarily in Europe, where he faced multiple legal challenges over the source of his wealth. He returned to Syria in October 2021 and appeared to have renounced his previous calls for Bashar al-Assad’s resignation. Following the fall of the Assad government in December 2024, Rifaat left Syria for Dubai, where he passed away on January 21, 2026.

Rifaat had previously denied responsibility for the Hama massacre, attributing orders to his brother, Hafez. He also received $200m from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as part of a settlement to leave the country in the early 1980s.

Source: Al Jazeera