Atef Najib ( ar, عاطف نجيب; born 1964/1965) was a Syrian officer and the

political security Political security is one of five sectors of analysis under the framework of the Copenhagen School of security studies. Within policy circles political security is part of a human security agenda. The 1994 Human Development Report (HDR) set out t ...

chief in the city of

Daraa Daraa ( ar, دَرْعَا, Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: , also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera'a, Dera, Derʿā and Edrei; means "''fortress''", compare Dura-Europos) is a city in southwestern Syria, located about north of the border with Jord ...

, and is a first cousin of President Assad. 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 which had written anti-Assad slogans on a public area in Daraa. His aggressive actions prompted non-violent protests by local inhabitants, and - after fire was opened by security forces at a protest march - the gradual start of armed resistance.

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