Explanation

Rifaat al‑Assad , younger brother of former Syrian President Hafez al‑Assad and uncle of Bashar al‑Assad, died in the UAE on January 21, 2026, at age 88 . He was widely known as the “ Butcher of Hama ” for commanding the elite “Defence Brigades” that brutally suppressed the 1982 Hama uprising , killing thousands to tens of thousands of civilians.