Anti-Assad activist hacked to death 'with axe' in Hamburg

Pharmacist Mohamed Joune also had his finger cut off in the attack

Mr Joune was killed in Hamburg.

A critic of Syria’s leader Bashar al Assad has died after being attacked with an item thought to be an axe, German newspapers report.

Mohamed Joune, 48, led the organisation Union of Syrians Abroad and lived in Germany. He was seen on Tuesday evening falling out of the doorway of a building in the city of Hamburg before collapsing due to a head and upper body wounds. He died soon after arriving at a local hospital.

The attacker also removed one of Mr Joune’s fingers, local news services reported.

Mr Joune was found on Lüneburger Strasse where he is thought to have owned and let out property although his day job was as a pharmacist. The police have said one thread they are investigating is whether Mr Joune was attacked when entering or trying to enter this property, which some have suggested was being squatted in.

He is thought to be married with two children.

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A friend who wished to remain anonymous told the Bild newspaper that he believed the Assad regime was behind the murder, saying he has met Mr Joune earlier in the day to discuss a protest marking the eighth anniversary of the Syrian revolution.

“It is most likely that Mohamed was killed because of his political activities,” he said.

Mr Joune’s organisation, the Union of Syrians Abroad, helped settle newcomers escaping the war into Germany.