Atef Najib (Arabic: عاطف نجيب; born 1964/1965) is a Syrian former officer and the political security chief in the city of Daraa, and a first cousin of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
[1] He is known as being a catalyst for one of the flashpoints that ignited the Syrian civil war, when in 2011 he directed the abduction and torture of 15 boys who had written anti-Assad slogans in a public area in Daraa.
[2] His aggressive actions prompted non-violent protests by local inhabitants, and - after security forces opened fire at a protest march - the gradual start of armed resistance.
[1][3] He was reportedly caught in rural Latakia on 31 January 2025 by the security few weeks after the fall of Assad regime by an offensive of the opposition forces.
[4] This Syria-related article is a stub.