Ali Abdullah Ayyoub

Lieutenant General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub (; born 28 April 1952) is a Syrian former military officer and politician. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Syria from 2020 to 2022, and was the Minister of Defense and was personally appointed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 1 January 2018. Ayyoub has a long experience in commanding manoeuvre formations and is also recognized as a specialist in land warfare.

Education Military Education

Bachelor in Military Sciences, Armoured Branch, Homs Military Academy (1971–1973) Appointed with the rank of Lieutenant under probation (1973) Company Commander Course Battalion Commander Course Command and Staff Course Higher Staff Course (War Course)

Functions and main responsibilities Former commander of different Armoured Brigades of Syrian Arab Army and Syrian Republican Guard Former commander of the 4th Armoured Division Former commander of the First Army Corps (regrouping the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 7th Divisions) Former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces between September 2011 until 18 July 2012 Former Chief of Staff of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces between 18 July 2012 and 1 January 2018 Former Minister of Defense between 1 January 2018 and 28 April 2022 Former member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party (4 May 2024 – 11 December 2024)

War crime charges In October 2023, French prosecutors at the Judicial Court of Paris charged Ali Ayyoub and his predecessor Fahd Al-Freij for their culpability in a barrel bomb in southwestern Syrian city of Daraa that killed French-Syrian national Salah Abou Nabout at his home in 2017.

Departure from Syria As al-Assad regime collapsed in December 2024, Ayyoub was among several senior officials who fled the country. He joined Ali Abbas and Qahtan Khalil aboard a Syrian Air Yak-40 jet that departed the military section of Damascus International Airport for the Russian-controlled Hmeimim Air Base, from where they were later flown to Moscow under Russian military protection.