#SouthernSyria | #Damascus: Syrian Refugee Returning from Germany killed Syrian Doctor in Damascus, Sources Say Motive Was Sectarian

Dr. Mahdi Sanduq was shot today, Wednesday, September 23, 2026, by a Syrian refugee who had returned from Germany, in the Jaddah al-Khamseh area of the Muhajireen district in the capital, Damascus.

According to local sources, the doctor was rushed immediately to a hospital, and died this evening from his wounds.

Preliminary information points to a sectarian motive behind the incident, as Dr. Mahdi Sanduq belonged to the Shitte community and was originally from the Amin neighborhood in Damascus.

Observers believe that the #STG encourages sectarian terrorist attacks against minorities, deliberately avoiding accountability for perpetrators of sectarian crimes, whether the perpetrators are civilians or members of its own forces. They also argue that the STG is actively promoting and spreading Salafi and Wahhabi extremist ideology among Sunni Syrians, and has been fueling sectarian strife in Syria in various ways since it came to power.