Syrian mayor assassinated in latest violence to hit Daraa province

The mayor of a town in southern Syria's Daraa province was assassinated in the early hours of Tuesday, according to regime media.

Abdul Qader Mahmoud al-Ahmad, mayor of the town of Al-Musayfrah, was gunned down by assailants on a motorbike as he made his way to work, SANA reported.

The attack happened a day after gunmen shot at the imam of a mosque in Tafas, Daraa while he was with his family.

The imam died instantly, while his wife and child were injured.

Since the Syrian regime retook the formerly rebel-held province of Daraa in the summer of 2018, assassinations and kidnappings have become common.

Though the regime is nominally in control of Daraa, former opposition elements have waged a low-level insurgency since 2018. Regime-affiliated fighters and militias also target civilians and former opposition fighters with impunity.

Daraa is known as the "cradle" of Syria's uprising for hosting the country's first mass protests in 2011 against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.