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Ali Abdullah Ayyoub

General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub
علي عبد الله أيوب
Ayyoub in 2020
Deputy Prime Minister of Syria
In office 30 August 2020 – 28 April 2022
President	Bashar al-Assad
Prime Minister	Hussein Arnous
Preceded by	Walid Muallem
17th Minister of Defense
In office 1 January 2018 – 28 April 2022
President	Bashar al-Assad
Prime Minister	Imad Khamis Hussein Arnous
Preceded by	Fahd Jassem al-Freij
Succeeded by	Ali Mahmoud Abbas
Chief of the General Staff of the Army and the Armed Forces
In office 18 July 2012 – 1 January 2018
President	Bashar al-Assad
Defense Minister	Fahd Jassem al-Freij
Preceded by	Fahd Jassem al-Freij
Succeeded by	Salim Harba
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Army and the Armed Forces
In office Unknown – 18 July 2012
Defense Minister	Dawoud Rajiha
Chief of Staff	Fahd Jassem al-Freij
Succeeded by	Bassam Najm el-Din Antakiali
Member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 May 2024
Personal details
Born	(1952-04-28) 28 April 1952 (age 72) Latakia, Second Syrian Republic
Political party	Ba'ath Party
Military service
Allegiance	Syria
Branch/service	Syrian Arab Army
Years of service	1972–2022
Rank	Lieutenant general
Unit	14th Engineering Battalion
Commands	Chief of Staff Deputy Chief of Staff 5th Armoured Division 112th Mechanized Brigade
Battles/wars	Yom Kippur War Islamist uprising in Syria Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign 2014 Latakia offensive

Lieutenant General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub (Arabic: علي عبد الله أيوب, romanized: ʿAlī ʿAbd Allāh Ayyūb; born 28 April 1952 in Latakia)^[1] is a Syrian senior military officer who served as the former Deputy Prime Minister of Syria. He is the former Minister of Defense and was personally appointed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 1 January 2018.^[2] Ayyoub has a long experience in commanding manoeuvre formations and is also recognized as a specialist in land warfare.

Military Education^[3]

• Bachelor in Military Sciences, Armoured Branch, Military Academy, Homs (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)

• 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 Arab Syrian Armed Forces between until 18 July 2012
• Former Chief of Staff of the Arab Syrian Armed Forces between 18 July 2012 and 1 January 2018
• Former Minister of Defense between 1 January 2018 and 28 April 2022
• Current member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party (4 May 2024–present)^[4]

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.^[5]