Interior Minister Ata al-Ayyubi, shortly after surviving an assassination attempt in Hawran in August 1920

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One month after the occupation of Damascus by the French, Mandate authorities imposed a fine on all cities who had joined in anti-French military activities during the years 1918-1920. The Hawran province refused to pay, prompting Prime Minister Alaa al-Din Droubi to visit it, along with his Interior Minister Ata al-Ayyubi and President of the Shura Council, Abdul Rahman Pasha al-Yusuf. The Prime Minister was ambushed and killed during the train trip, in the Khirbet Ghazale province, along with Abdul Rahman Pasha, and Ayyubi survived. He went on to serve as Prime Minister in 1936 and 1943.