Sayyid Farhan Hassan al-Mansour, a member of the Religious Scholars Council of the Shiite community in Syria and the Imam of the Sayyida Zainab Shrine, was killed after succumbing to wounds sustained in an assassination attack targeting him in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

According to the Syrian Observatory, the attack was carried out by throwing a hand grenade into al-Mansour’s vehicle near the Safir Al-Zahraa Hotel shortly after he left the Sayyida Zainab Shrine, causing a powerful explosion.

The attack left him critically wounded, after which he was transferred to al-Kawthar Hospital in the city of Sayyida Zainab. He later passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Al-Mansour was regarded as one of the prominent figures within Syria’s Shiite community and played an important role in religious guidance and leadership for the sect.