Assad has reappointed Maj. Gen. Hassan Ali as Air Force Commander after former Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Balloul, was once again retired.

On October 23, 2020, The Syrian regime appointed Ali Air Force Commander for the first time, succeeding Major General Ahmed Balloul, who was retired after exhausting all kinds of extension. 

But due to Balloul's extreme loyalty to both the regime and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, he was reinstated as Air Force Commander on November 25, 2020 under Iranian request in order to finish working on the military files he started on his last visit to Iran on January.

Zaman al-Wasl's source suggested that Balloul had closed all open files with Iran and that Russian pressure pushed the regime to terminate his service once again, making him to only Air Force Commander in Syria to return to his post after retirement. 

The newly-appointed commander has Russia's big support pushing fellow officers in the air force to dub him as the “spoiled boy” , then returned to his position as commander after spending more than two months as deputy commander of the reinstated Balloul.

As commander of the 14th Brigade, Ali carried out more than 30,000 sorties dropping an average of four bombs of different calibers per sortie; that is, more than 120,000 air bombs from each category and class targeting rebelled cities and villages, source says.  

Under the command of Brigadier General Hassan Ali, the 14th Brigade committed thousands of massacres against innocent civilians, especially in Hama, Idlib, Aleppo and Latakia.