Hassan Hamada

Hassan Hamada (; born c. 1968 Prior to the fall of the Assad regime, he had served as defense minister in the Syrian Interim Government and chief of staff of the Syrian National Army.

Military service

Before his defection in June 2012, Col. Hassan Hamada served in an airbase in the as-Suwayda Governorate as the head of the Scientific Research group in the 93rd Brigade. There had been other defections and desertions from the Syrian military, but no Syrian Air Force pilots had been known to defect with their aircraft. A Syrian government paramilitary force known as the Shabiha retaliated by setting fire to the homes of Hamada, his brother and his mother. Opposition sources said he had smuggled his family to Turkey before his defection.

Hamada’s defection raised questions about whether fealty to President Bashar Assad was fraying in the air force, the military branch regarded as closest to the Assad family. Hamada, like most Syrian pilots, belongs to the Sunni Muslim majority so his defection generated speculation that Sunni pilots would face new restrictions on any flying missions. the MiG-21 aircraft flown by Col. Hamada was modified as an 'Optionally Piloted Aircraft', thought to be used in remotely controlled unmanned configuration for carrying chemical weapons.

After his defection in Jordan, Hassan Hamada sought refuge in the border town of Reyhanlı, Turkey.

Military activities since defection In March 2014, Hassan Hamada returned to the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria and formed the 101st Infantry Division of the Free Syrian Army. The group was supported by the Syrian Military Council and supplied with BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles from the United States and Saudi Arabia. The group was also in communication with the political National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

On 15 November 2021, he was appointed defense minister in the Syrian Interim Government