Assef Shawkat
| Assef Shawkat آصف شوكت |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 January 1950 Al-Madehleh, Tartus, Syria |
| Died | 18 July 2012 (aged 62) Damascus, Syria |
| Nationality | Syrian |
| Political party | Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party |
| Spouse(s) | Bushra al-Assad |
| Occupation | Head of Military Intelligence (2005–2009) Deputy Chief of Staff (2009–2011) Deputy Minister of Defense (2011–2012) |
| Religion | Alawite |
| Military service | |
| Rank |
 Major General
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Assef Shawkat (Arabic: آصف شوكت; 15 January 1950 – 18 July 2012) was the deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012.
He and three other top Syrian government officials were killed on 18 July 2012 in Damascus during a deadly bomb attack allegedly organized by the Free Syrian Army.
Assef Shawkat was born into an Alawite family in the village of al-Madehleh in the Tartus region of Syria on 15 January 1950. He grew up in modest comfort and studied law and history at Damascus University before joining the Syrian army in the late 1970s. During this time, Shawkat married and had five children.
After joining the army, Shawkat began working his way up through the ranks, and by 1982 he was an officer in the Defense Companies paramilitary force headed by Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. The Defense Companies were responsible for putting down an Islamic uprising in the city of Hama,
In 1983, after Hafez al-Assad suffered an apparent heart attack, he named governing council of six men he believed were unlikely to seize power to run the country in his absence. Rifaat al-Assad was not among them. Hafez al-Assad’s prolonged absence caused supporters of Rifaat al-Assad to rally around him, and in 1984 Rifaat launched a bid to take control of Damascus which nearly escalated into a civil war. The tensions only eased when Hafez al-Assad, still ill, addressed the nation and the attempted coup d'état collapsed. Shawkat remained loyal to Hafez al-Assad throughout this period, and he was rewarded with a promotion to colonel.
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