Chief of the General Staff (Syria)

The Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces (Arabic: رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة, romanized: Rayiys hayyat al'arkan aleamat liljaysh walquaat almusalaha) is the professional head of the Syrian Armed Forces and the Syrian Army. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President of Syria, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces
رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة‎
Incumbent Ali Noureddine al-Naasan since 21 December 2024
Ministry of Defence
Reports to	Minister of Defense
Residence	Damascus
Seat	Hay'at al-Arkan, Umayyad Square
Appointer	President
Formation	1947
First holder	Abdullah Atfeh

On 16 July 2025, the Israeli Air Force bombed the entrance to the General Staff headquarters in Damascus, amid the July 2025 southern Syrian clashes.^[1]

List of officeholders

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Major general Abdullah Atfeh (1897–1976)	1947	1948	0–1 years	[2]
2		Brigadier general Husni al-Za'im (1897–1949)	1948	1949	0–1 years
3		Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi (1898–1950)	1949	1950	0–1 years
4		Brigadier general Anwar Bannud (1908–1979)	2 January 1950	23 April 1951	1 year, 111 days	[3]
5		Fawzi Selu (1905–1972)	23 April 1951	1953	1–2 years
6		General Shawkat Shuqayr (1912–1982)	1953	8 July 1956	2–3 years
7		General Tawfiq Nizam al-Din	8 July 1956	1957	0–1 years
8		Lieutenant general Afif al-Bizri (1912–1982)	1957	1959	1–2 years
9		General Jamal al-Faisal	1959	28 September 1961
10		General Abdul Karim Zahreddine (1917–2009)	28 September 1961	8 March 1963	1 year, 161 days
11		Major general Ziad al-Hariri (1929–2015)	8 March 1963	8 July 1963	122 days
12		Major general Salah Jadid (1926–1993)	11 November 1963	1966	2–3 years	[4]
13		Major general Ahmed Suwaydani (1932–1994)	February 1966	February 1968	1–2 years
14		Colonel general Mustafa Tlass (1932–2017)	1968	1972	3–4 years
15		Colonel general Yusuf Shakkur (1926–2018)	1972	1974	1–2 years
16		Colonel general Hikmat al-Shihabi (1931–2013)	12 August 1974	8 July 1998	23 years, 330 days	[5]
17		Lieutenant general Ali Aslan (born 1932)	8 July 1998	23 January 2002	3 years, 199 days	[6]
18		Lieutenant general Hasan Turkmani (1935–2012)	23 January 2002	12 May 2004	2 years, 110 days	[7][8]
19		Colonel general Ali Habib Mahmud (1939–2020)	12 May 2004	3 June 2009	5 years, 22 days	[9][10] [11]
20		Colonel general Dawoud Rajiha (1947–2012)	3 June 2009	8 August 2011	2 years, 66 days	[12][13] [14]
21		Colonel general Fahd Jassem al-Freij (born 1950)	8 August 2011	18 July 2012	345 days	[15]
22		Lieutenant general Ali Abdullah Ayyoub (born 1952)	18 July 2012	1 January 2018	5 years, 167 days	[16]
Vacant[17] 1 January 2018–1 April 2019
23		Lieutenant general Salim Harba	1 April 2019	30 April 2022	3 years, 29 days	[18]
24		Lieutenant general Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim	30 April 2022	8 December 2024	2 years, 222 days	[19]
Vacant 8–21 December 2024
25		Major general Ali Noureddine al-Naasan	21 December 2024	Incumbent	268 days	[20]