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Al Jazeera - Qatar
May 27, 2014 Tuesday 12:33 PM GMT
Syrian villagers scarred by rebel violence
by Kristin Solberg
Facing perceived threats of violence and displacement, villagers
supportive of Assad vow to fight off opposition groups.
Latakia province, Syria - The war has moved closer to Abu Ahmed's
orange grove: Tending his fields, the 65-year-old farmer regularly
hears sounds of shelling as the Syrian army fights opposition groups
in nearby villages.
At a checkpoint near his old almond tree, government soldiers
vigilantly search cars driving on the winding mountain road, fearful
of rebel intrusion. If and when the opposition fighters come, Abu
Ahmed swears he won't flee his home.
"We have to stay and defend our farms, even if we have nothing to
defend it with," he said, pointing to bullet holes on the walls of his
house. "I am ready to get a gun from the government and fight the
armed groups."
Checkpoints have sprung up every few kilometres on the roads cutting
through the green mountain villages of Latakia, the ancestral home of
Syria's ruling Assad clan and the heartland of the Alawite sect, an
offshoot of Shia Islam, to which they belong. Most are decorated with
Syrian flags, posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and slogans
of imminent victory. One proclaims: "We are the soldiers of Assad.
Even death fears us."
This was once a peaceful corner of Syria, shielded from the conflict
which has left other parts of the country in ruins and killed more
than 160,000 people. But these days, unrest is back.
RELATED: War-torn Syria plans to hold elections
In late March, rebel groups launched an offensive, taking control of a
number of villages. For the first time in the uprising against Assad's
rule, which started with peaceful demonstrations that were brutally
cracked down on, opposition fighters captured a piece of the
Mediterranean coast.
Rebel groups made a similar push into Latakia last August, but were
quickly expelled from many villages in a counter-offensive. But Abu
Ahmed fled his home thrice last year, leaving his fields and livestock
behind in the morning, before returning at night to find bullet holes
on his house and his cow shed damaged by a rocket.
"I was working in the fields when they came," he told Al Jazeera,
adding that he believed they were foreign fighters, not Syrian
nationals, judging by their clothes and appearance. "They shot at us
through the trees."
One early morning in August, at the start of the previous offensive,
Abu Ahmed saw people running through his fields, some barefoot and
dressed only in night shirts, fleeing a massacre in a nearby village.
Fearing what may come, he joined them.
Welcomed in many other parts of the country, opposition fighters are
generally feared in Latakia. News of the government dropping barrel
bombs on Aleppo, or tightening the siege on Yarmouk refugee camp near
Damascus and other opposition-held neighbourhoods, does not reach the
area, or is not believed. Many see rebels as troublemakers or foreign
"terrorists" - the government's oft-repeated labels for the
opposition.
"Here in Latakia, no one welcomes them. They come by force," said
Maytham Ahmed, media director in Latakia's office of the Syrian
Ministry of Information.
RELATED: The invasion of Kassab: 'We were evicted'
Zarouhi Mangikian, 52, is one of approximately 3,000 people who
recently fled Syria's predominantly Armenian-Christian town of Kassab,
near the Turkish border.
When rebels attacked in the early morning of March 21, most of the
town's residents left immediately. But Mangikian's 90-year-old mother
stayed behind, refusing to leave her home with memories of previous
Armenian displacements fresh in her mind. When Mangikian called home
after reaching safety in the city of Latakia, 60km south, a man
answered the phone.
"He said they had kidnapped my mother. If we handed over three young
men from Kassab, she would be released. I was scared and hung up,"
Mangikian said. When she called again, no one answered. She says she
no longer knows where her mother is.
Around 150 of Kassab's residents have taken shelter in the Armenian
Church in Latakia. Mattresses are rolled out on the floor. A
stern-looking Hafez al-Assad, the former Syrian president and Bashar's
father, looks down from one wall, while a serious photo of Bashar
hangs from another.
"We were used to hearing the sounds of gun-fire and rockets, but it
was from a distance. Now it was very close. I was asleep and the sound
woke me up. First I couldn't believe what happened, because I didn't
expect it," 20-year old Rafi Kilaghbian said. "We will stay here until
we can go back to Kassab. Our only hope now is with our army."
Shortly after rebels captured Kassab, government loyalists spread
rumours of a massacre against the town's Christian residents. Brutal
images of alleged atrocities circulated in social media with the
hashtag #SaveKessab. But the rumours of a large-scale massacre were
unfounded and many of the photos were falsified.
VIDEO: Syrian rebels go underground against Assad
Renewed violence in Latakia has triggered memories of deadly violence
that broke out in the area in August 2013.
At least 190 civilians were killed, including 57 women, at least 18
children and 14 elderly, according to a Human Rights Watch
investigation. Some were executed with their hands and feet tied and
others decapitated. More than 200 people, mainly women and children,
were kidnapped and were still missing by the time HRW published its
report a few months later.
That morning, Abu Haider, a 65-year-old farmer from Aramo village, ran
for his life. "There was no warning. We heard the sound of gunfire and
we understood that we were attacked. We left at once, and fled through
the forest," he recalled.
His wife and seven of his children made it to safety in a neighbouring
village, but his 15-year-old son Haider was shot and killed while he
fled. His body was left on the ground for five days, as Abu Haider
deemed it too unsafe to collect it.
When government soldiers pushed the rebels out, Abu Haider returned
home and found his house burnt and plundered. "They stole everything.
They even took my wife's clothes," he said.
The Free Syrian Army and the National Coalition for the Syrian
Revolution and Opposition Forces condemned the killings, which HRW
mainly blamed on extremist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL), the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and the
mainly non-Syrian Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar.
The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said last
month that atrocities by the Syrian government "far outweigh" crimes
by opposition fighters and that the government is "mostly responsible"
for the human rights offences in the war, which is now in its fourth
year. "You cannot compare the two," Pillay said.
But for many in Latakia, last year's massacre fuels fears of what may
happen when rebels advance again. It also rallies people squarely
behind Assad. "I don't know when this will end, but we are certain
that God will bring victory to our President Bashar al-Assad," said
Alawite Azidin Menaa, 75, sitting in the shade of a road-side
restaurant on the outskirts of Latakia.
Near Abu Ahmed's old almond tree, soldiers from Assad's ancestral home
village of Qerdaha man a checkpoint. One of them is Abu Jaber - who
insists on being quoted anonymously because he is not authorised to
speak to the media. He says he pushed rebels out of nearby villages
last year and is prepared to do the same this year.
"Last year we found people buried in the sand. It was impossible to
say how many they were, because some of them were just body parts," he
told Al Jazeera, referring to the massacre on August 4 last year.
He says he is certain it won't happen again. "We are not afraid," he
said. "We are stronger now."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
May 27, 2014 Tuesday 12:33 PM GMT
Syrian villagers scarred by rebel violence
by Kristin Solberg
Facing perceived threats of violence and displacement, villagers
supportive of Assad vow to fight off opposition groups.
Latakia province, Syria - The war has moved closer to Abu Ahmed's
orange grove: Tending his fields, the 65-year-old farmer regularly
hears sounds of shelling as the Syrian army fights opposition groups
in nearby villages.
At a checkpoint near his old almond tree, government soldiers
vigilantly search cars driving on the winding mountain road, fearful
of rebel intrusion. If and when the opposition fighters come, Abu
Ahmed swears he won't flee his home.
"We have to stay and defend our farms, even if we have nothing to
defend it with," he said, pointing to bullet holes on the walls of his
house. "I am ready to get a gun from the government and fight the
armed groups."
Checkpoints have sprung up every few kilometres on the roads cutting
through the green mountain villages of Latakia, the ancestral home of
Syria's ruling Assad clan and the heartland of the Alawite sect, an
offshoot of Shia Islam, to which they belong. Most are decorated with
Syrian flags, posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and slogans
of imminent victory. One proclaims: "We are the soldiers of Assad.
Even death fears us."
This was once a peaceful corner of Syria, shielded from the conflict
which has left other parts of the country in ruins and killed more
than 160,000 people. But these days, unrest is back.
RELATED: War-torn Syria plans to hold elections
In late March, rebel groups launched an offensive, taking control of a
number of villages. For the first time in the uprising against Assad's
rule, which started with peaceful demonstrations that were brutally
cracked down on, opposition fighters captured a piece of the
Mediterranean coast.
Rebel groups made a similar push into Latakia last August, but were
quickly expelled from many villages in a counter-offensive. But Abu
Ahmed fled his home thrice last year, leaving his fields and livestock
behind in the morning, before returning at night to find bullet holes
on his house and his cow shed damaged by a rocket.
"I was working in the fields when they came," he told Al Jazeera,
adding that he believed they were foreign fighters, not Syrian
nationals, judging by their clothes and appearance. "They shot at us
through the trees."
One early morning in August, at the start of the previous offensive,
Abu Ahmed saw people running through his fields, some barefoot and
dressed only in night shirts, fleeing a massacre in a nearby village.
Fearing what may come, he joined them.
Welcomed in many other parts of the country, opposition fighters are
generally feared in Latakia. News of the government dropping barrel
bombs on Aleppo, or tightening the siege on Yarmouk refugee camp near
Damascus and other opposition-held neighbourhoods, does not reach the
area, or is not believed. Many see rebels as troublemakers or foreign
"terrorists" - the government's oft-repeated labels for the
opposition.
"Here in Latakia, no one welcomes them. They come by force," said
Maytham Ahmed, media director in Latakia's office of the Syrian
Ministry of Information.
RELATED: The invasion of Kassab: 'We were evicted'
Zarouhi Mangikian, 52, is one of approximately 3,000 people who
recently fled Syria's predominantly Armenian-Christian town of Kassab,
near the Turkish border.
When rebels attacked in the early morning of March 21, most of the
town's residents left immediately. But Mangikian's 90-year-old mother
stayed behind, refusing to leave her home with memories of previous
Armenian displacements fresh in her mind. When Mangikian called home
after reaching safety in the city of Latakia, 60km south, a man
answered the phone.
"He said they had kidnapped my mother. If we handed over three young
men from Kassab, she would be released. I was scared and hung up,"
Mangikian said. When she called again, no one answered. She says she
no longer knows where her mother is.
Around 150 of Kassab's residents have taken shelter in the Armenian
Church in Latakia. Mattresses are rolled out on the floor. A
stern-looking Hafez al-Assad, the former Syrian president and Bashar's
father, looks down from one wall, while a serious photo of Bashar
hangs from another.
"We were used to hearing the sounds of gun-fire and rockets, but it
was from a distance. Now it was very close. I was asleep and the sound
woke me up. First I couldn't believe what happened, because I didn't
expect it," 20-year old Rafi Kilaghbian said. "We will stay here until
we can go back to Kassab. Our only hope now is with our army."
Shortly after rebels captured Kassab, government loyalists spread
rumours of a massacre against the town's Christian residents. Brutal
images of alleged atrocities circulated in social media with the
hashtag #SaveKessab. But the rumours of a large-scale massacre were
unfounded and many of the photos were falsified.
VIDEO: Syrian rebels go underground against Assad
Renewed violence in Latakia has triggered memories of deadly violence
that broke out in the area in August 2013.
At least 190 civilians were killed, including 57 women, at least 18
children and 14 elderly, according to a Human Rights Watch
investigation. Some were executed with their hands and feet tied and
others decapitated. More than 200 people, mainly women and children,
were kidnapped and were still missing by the time HRW published its
report a few months later.
That morning, Abu Haider, a 65-year-old farmer from Aramo village, ran
for his life. "There was no warning. We heard the sound of gunfire and
we understood that we were attacked. We left at once, and fled through
the forest," he recalled.
His wife and seven of his children made it to safety in a neighbouring
village, but his 15-year-old son Haider was shot and killed while he
fled. His body was left on the ground for five days, as Abu Haider
deemed it too unsafe to collect it.
When government soldiers pushed the rebels out, Abu Haider returned
home and found his house burnt and plundered. "They stole everything.
They even took my wife's clothes," he said.
The Free Syrian Army and the National Coalition for the Syrian
Revolution and Opposition Forces condemned the killings, which HRW
mainly blamed on extremist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL), the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and the
mainly non-Syrian Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar.
The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said last
month that atrocities by the Syrian government "far outweigh" crimes
by opposition fighters and that the government is "mostly responsible"
for the human rights offences in the war, which is now in its fourth
year. "You cannot compare the two," Pillay said.
But for many in Latakia, last year's massacre fuels fears of what may
happen when rebels advance again. It also rallies people squarely
behind Assad. "I don't know when this will end, but we are certain
that God will bring victory to our President Bashar al-Assad," said
Alawite Azidin Menaa, 75, sitting in the shade of a road-side
restaurant on the outskirts of Latakia.
Near Abu Ahmed's old almond tree, soldiers from Assad's ancestral home
village of Qerdaha man a checkpoint. One of them is Abu Jaber - who
insists on being quoted anonymously because he is not authorised to
speak to the media. He says he pushed rebels out of nearby villages
last year and is prepared to do the same this year.
"Last year we found people buried in the sand. It was impossible to
say how many they were, because some of them were just body parts," he
told Al Jazeera, referring to the massacre on August 4 last year.
He says he is certain it won't happen again. "We are not afraid," he
said. "We are stronger now."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress