Former Syrian Defense Minister passes away at 81

According to reports, Mahmoud, who was from rural Tartous, passed away on Friday morning at the Al-Assad Hospital; he was 81-years-old at the time of his passing.

Prior to his retirement, Mahmoud served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) from 2004 to 2009 and Syrian Minister of Defense from 2009 to 2011.