Something cooking??
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71 posters
Syrian Civil War: News #2
franco- Posts : 7067
Points : 7093
Join date : 2010-08-18
- Post n°1
Syrian Civil War: News #2
Apparently the kings of Saudi and Jordan plus President of Egypt as well as senior Iranian and Syrian officials in Russia next week.
Something cooking??
Something cooking??
AlfaT8- Posts : 2494
Points : 2485
Join date : 2013-02-02
- Post n°2
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
franco wrote:Apparently the kings of Saudi and Jordan plus President of Egypt as well as senior Iranian and Syrian officials in Russia next week.
Something cooking??
The Hell?!!!!!
Walther von Oldenburg- Posts : 1725
Points : 1844
Join date : 2015-01-24
Age : 33
Location : Oldenburg
- Post n°3
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
ISIS executed a 82 years old archeologist in Tadmmur. He worked there for 50 years and was one of the top archeologists in Syria.
jka- Posts : 63
Points : 69
Join date : 2015-02-06
Age : 38
Location : Südschweden
- Post n°4
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
franco wrote:Apparently the kings of Saudi and Jordan plus President of Egypt as well as senior Iranian and Syrian officials in Russia next week.
Something cooking??
USA support rebells vs ISIS + Syria + Iran, Russia, Jordan, S.A. and Egypt????
max steel- Posts : 2929
Points : 2954
Join date : 2015-02-13
Location : South Pole
- Post n°5
Syria (Civil war): News #2
sepheronx wrote:flamming_python wrote:Gotta call BS on it, don't care how many agencies report it.
Yeah, I am pretty certain photos would have surfaced already. I call BS as well. I can see them handing MiG-29's way before MiG-31's.
You both are wrong. It aint a rumor anymore. Russia has delievered 6 Mig-31 to Syria. Check RAF fb page ,they reported it.
George1- Posts : 18538
Points : 19043
Join date : 2011-12-23
Location : Greece
- Post n°6
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Syrian Army Retakes 16 Villages, Kills Over 300 Rebels in Hama Province
franco- Posts : 7067
Points : 7093
Join date : 2010-08-18
- Post n°7
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
No Mig-31 for Syria;
http://www.sputniknews.com/military/20150822/1026049778/no-mig-31-for-syria.html
http://www.sputniknews.com/military/20150822/1026049778/no-mig-31-for-syria.html
max steel- Posts : 2929
Points : 2954
Join date : 2015-02-13
Location : South Pole
- Post n°8
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Shame on Macedonia for harming Syrian refugees.
JohninMK- Posts : 15707
Points : 15848
Join date : 2015-06-16
Location : England
- Post n°9
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
If true this will put the cat amongst the pigeons
The Syrian air defense shot down an Israeli warplane violating the Arab country's air space, an Iranian news agency reported. The Israeli fighter jet was targeted over the city of Al-Quneitra on Friday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
Israel regularly violates the Syrian airspace and launches missile attacks against the country.
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force resumed airstrikes on Western Syria, targeting a government army base at Khan Al-Sheih in Damascus province and another in the al-Quneitra province after a six-hour halt in attacks that followed their multiple air raids over the Golan Heights.
Both Syrian army installations have been under siege by the al-Qaeda-linked group of al-Nusra Front and their allies from Ajnad al-Sham and Jeish al-Islam groups.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150822/1026069664.html#ixzz3jYZM6upL
The Syrian air defense shot down an Israeli warplane violating the Arab country's air space, an Iranian news agency reported. The Israeli fighter jet was targeted over the city of Al-Quneitra on Friday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
Israel regularly violates the Syrian airspace and launches missile attacks against the country.
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force resumed airstrikes on Western Syria, targeting a government army base at Khan Al-Sheih in Damascus province and another in the al-Quneitra province after a six-hour halt in attacks that followed their multiple air raids over the Golan Heights.
Both Syrian army installations have been under siege by the al-Qaeda-linked group of al-Nusra Front and their allies from Ajnad al-Sham and Jeish al-Islam groups.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150822/1026069664.html#ixzz3jYZM6upL
Fred333- Posts : 135
Points : 138
Join date : 2015-05-01
- Post n°10
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
JohninMK wrote:If true this will put the cat amongst the pigeons
The Syrian air defense shot down an Israeli warplane violating the Arab country's air space, an Iranian news agency reported. The Israeli fighter jet was targeted over the city of Al-Quneitra on Friday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
Israel regularly violates the Syrian airspace and launches missile attacks against the country.
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force resumed airstrikes on Western Syria, targeting a government army base at Khan Al-Sheih in Damascus province and another in the al-Quneitra province after a six-hour halt in attacks that followed their multiple air raids over the Golan Heights.
Both Syrian army installations have been under siege by the al-Qaeda-linked group of al-Nusra Front and their allies from Ajnad al-Sham and Jeish al-Islam groups.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150822/1026069664.html#ixzz3jYZM6upL
if by warplane they mean drone, I would be inclined to believe it, otherwise pics or it didn't happen
max steel- Posts : 2929
Points : 2954
Join date : 2015-02-13
Location : South Pole
- Post n°11
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Actually it is an UAV only. Iranian Media Press Tv reported Iran shot down an UAV entering Iranian airspace.
Book.- Posts : 692
Points : 745
Join date : 2015-05-08
Location : Oregon, USA
- Post n°12
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
الطائرات الإسرائيلية تحرق مواقع قوات النظام بـ 14 غارة جوية حول دمشق
Israeli planes burn regime forces' positions with 14 air strike on Damascus
Published on Aug 22, 2015
Israel hit the Syria army
C300 + Mig 31 now!
Israeli planes burn regime forces' positions with 14 air strike on Damascus
Published on Aug 22, 2015
Israeli planes again return to the Syrian airspace fourteen air raid on regime forces focused sites, mostly in an area called the Triangle of Death, a confluence of rural Damascus and Deraa point and Kenitra report
Mohammed Sumaisem
Israel hit the Syria army
C300 + Mig 31 now!
Book.- Posts : 692
Points : 745
Join date : 2015-05-08
Location : Oregon, USA
- Post n°13
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
مميز: احتراق دبابة للنظام بصاروخ تاو في سهل الغاب
Hama rebel target SAA tank the tow missle
Published on Aug 19, 2015
Hama rebel target SAA tank the tow missle
Published on Aug 19, 2015
Broadcast hawks jungle rebel factions gathered a video showing a tank target system in plain jungle countryside west of Hama. And after being caught fire inside the tank with explosions within what led to the burning almost completely. The greatest battles in the plain of the jungle after the regime launched a counter-attack to recover the areas controlled by the rebels over the past two Alospouyn.
Viktor- Posts : 5796
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Join date : 2009-08-26
Age : 44
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- Post n°14
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
It seems that Syrian PVO is not dead after all
LINK
LINK
JohninMK- Posts : 15707
Points : 15848
Join date : 2015-06-16
Location : England
- Post n°15
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
This is a view out of France, who have a long relationship in the area. If true there are some interesting points in it, in particular the second para below, which I must say I have my doubts about. Still, see what you think.
A profound and significant change has just occurred in the Levant – the Russian army has begun to engage against terrorism in Syria. Although Russia has been absent from the international scene since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and although it is moving with care, it has just created a Russo-Syrian Commission, has begun supplying weapons, sharing intelligence, and sending advisors. All of this is more or less coordinated with the White House.
After having negotiated a regional alliance against the Islamic Emirate which implied Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, Russia suddenly had to abandon its strategy after the Turkish turn-around. Ankara has in fact decided to break off its ties with Moscow, and has cancelled, without genuine motive, the contract for the gas pipe-line Turkish Stream, created, in partenership with Ukraine, an international Islamic Brigade intended to destabilise Crimea [1]. It has also come to the help of the Islamic Emirate in their fight against the Kurds of the PKK and the YPG.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/russian-army-engages-in-syria-supplies-weapons-advisors-and-intelligence/5471246
Original source (in English) http://www.voltairenet.org/article188522.html
A profound and significant change has just occurred in the Levant – the Russian army has begun to engage against terrorism in Syria. Although Russia has been absent from the international scene since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and although it is moving with care, it has just created a Russo-Syrian Commission, has begun supplying weapons, sharing intelligence, and sending advisors. All of this is more or less coordinated with the White House.
After having negotiated a regional alliance against the Islamic Emirate which implied Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, Russia suddenly had to abandon its strategy after the Turkish turn-around. Ankara has in fact decided to break off its ties with Moscow, and has cancelled, without genuine motive, the contract for the gas pipe-line Turkish Stream, created, in partenership with Ukraine, an international Islamic Brigade intended to destabilise Crimea [1]. It has also come to the help of the Islamic Emirate in their fight against the Kurds of the PKK and the YPG.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/russian-army-engages-in-syria-supplies-weapons-advisors-and-intelligence/5471246
Original source (in English) http://www.voltairenet.org/article188522.html
Stealthflanker- Posts : 1459
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Join date : 2009-08-04
Age : 36
Location : Indonesia
- Post n°16
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Viktor wrote:It seems that Syrian PVO is not dead after all
LINK
Yeah... Nonetheless, they can't enforce Syrian air soverignity at all. I really wonder where are Syrian fighter patrols whenever Israeli strike pack appeared.
That is painful.
and so far i heard no use of precision munition used by SyAAF against those ISIS terrorists.
ShahryarHedayatiSHBA- Posts : 421
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Age : 41
- Post n°17
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Book.- Posts : 692
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Join date : 2015-05-08
Location : Oregon, USA
- Post n°18
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
جانب من الاشتباكات بين مجاهدي الجبهة الشامية وقوات الأسد على جبهة باشكوي
Syria Rebel show the GoPro camera Levantine Front...
Clash the Assad army the Paschkoa front! [Live TV]
Published on Aug 26, 2015 [08.27.2015 17:22:52]
Rebel ride Bmp hit hard the Assad army!
See the crazy fire fight!
Syria Rebel show the GoPro camera Levantine Front...
Clash the Assad army the Paschkoa front! [Live TV]
Published on Aug 26, 2015 [08.27.2015 17:22:52]
Aljbhh_ahamih #
# Vth_halb side of the clashes that took place between the Mujahideen of the Levantine Front and the forces of Assad on the axis Paschko
Rebel ride Bmp hit hard the Assad army!
See the crazy fire fight!
Cowboy's daughter- Posts : 1894
Points : 1933
Join date : 2015-04-25
Location : Texas
- Post n°19
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
I saw this yesterday, and I had the thought that there was things Russia did not do for Syria, until the USA began to do certain things, but I can't remember exactly what. and I thought I remembered that in a speech Pres. Putin said that, but IDK which speech. nor what exactly he said.
Russia ramps up Syria military
involvement: pro-Assad paper
Al-Watan reported that Russia has dispatched military advisors and seeks to build a base in Jableh
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/565807-russia-ramps-up-syria-military-involvement-pro-assad-paper?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterretty
Russia ramps up Syria military
involvement: pro-Assad paper
Al-Watan reported that Russia has dispatched military advisors and seeks to build a base in Jableh
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/565807-russia-ramps-up-syria-military-involvement-pro-assad-paper?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterretty
ShahryarHedayatiSHBA- Posts : 421
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Age : 41
- Post n°20
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Book.- Posts : 692
Points : 745
Join date : 2015-05-08
Location : Oregon, USA
- Post n°21
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
حلب - الخالدية || 27 8 2015 || استهداف قوات النظام بقذائف الجهنم واصابات مباشرة بفضل الله
Aleppo - Khalidiya || 27 8 2015 || Syria Rebel Brigade 16 target regime forces the Big Mother Motar!
Published on Aug 27, 2015 [08.28.2015 20:06:28]
Home made motar so big
Aleppo - Khalidiya || 27 8 2015 || Syria Rebel Brigade 16 target regime forces the Big Mother Motar!
Published on Aug 27, 2015 [08.28.2015 20:06:28]
Home made motar so big
GarryB- Posts : 40649
Points : 41151
Join date : 2010-03-30
Location : New Zealand
- Post n°22
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Looks like a small calibre mountain gun... probably 76mm or 105mm at the most.
I would say the only thing improvised was that ammo... very dodgy.
The 120mm mortar is a much better much more effective much safer weapon to use.
This video shows they are desperate.
I would say the only thing improvised was that ammo... very dodgy.
The 120mm mortar is a much better much more effective much safer weapon to use.
This video shows they are desperate.
max steel- Posts : 2929
Points : 2954
Join date : 2015-02-13
Location : South Pole
- Post n°23
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
NAF got hold on american anti-mortar radars provided to azov right sector .I guess Russia had a look to it. Isnt it ?
Post#1000 Colonel !
Post#1000 Colonel !
ExBeobachter1987- Posts : 441
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Join date : 2014-11-27
Age : 36
Location : Western Eurasia
- Post n°24
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
Exploring the 'other Syria'
ALEPPO, Syria — During a recent trip to Aleppo, which self-styled pundits like to call a “Sunni” city, I stopped by the stall of a street vendor, a woman covered in black attire, to see what she had to offer. Filled with Syrian army badges and pins with the Syrian flag along with images of President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the stall reflected the spirit at the fore – or being brought to the fore — in regime-controlled areas.
Nasrallah posters are not unusual in Homs, a city with a large Shiite population, but in Aleppo, his image adorning walls next to posters of Assad is a sight that defies comprehension. In the “other Syria,” the one we don't hear about, Hezbollah’s support on the battlefield, from Qusair to Qalamoun, has earned Nasrallah a reputation that transcends sectarian boundaries. This was exemplified by my Christian guide, a native of Homs, who sang along enthusiastically when our Alawite driver played a song in praise of Nasrallah while driving us from Homs to Tartus. I also saw it in Baqdash, the famous ice cream parlor in the old city of Damascus whose walls were once covered with photos of famous visitors, including Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan and Jordan’s King Abdullah. Today, the only frame left on the wall holds a thank you letter from Nasrallah for the financial support the establishment has provided to “the resistance.” Asked why the celebrity photos were gone, the shop owner replied, “No one who undermines this country can have their picture on this wall.”
Meanwhile, Assad’s most widely displayed poster features the slogan “We are with you.” Earlier, such displays of veneration could have been explained as an effort to keep the feared Mukhabarat (the intelligence directorate) at bay, but at this time of war, the urge to lionize the leader has deepened.
Criticism of the regime notwithstanding, the citizenry's growing desire to embrace their “Syrianness” and to save the Syrian state seems to have reduced the rift that opened along sectarian fault lines after 2011. In previous trips to Syria, I had observed that many Syrians would frown when asked whether they were Alawite or Sunni. They sensed malice in the question and would answer pointedly, “I’m a Syrian.” The number of such people appears to have markedly increased. Inquiring about someone’s sect was taboo and remains so, but with one major difference: Before, the question would cause annoyance, now it causes anger.
Myriad reasons can be attributed to why criticism of the regime has toned down while the emphasis on Syrianness has grown. Chief among them are the stories of people who have been attacked, kidnapped, tortured or killed simply because of their sect. Kamal Banqasli, a businessman from Aleppo, is a man with one such story.
During a conversation at a private dinner, Banqasli displayed the scars on his arms and feet as he shared his story. “I was kidnapped by opposition forces. They demanded a ransom of 1 million Syrian pounds [$5,300], which I rejected. Then they tortured me. I had my arms slashed with a knife and two toes broken. The group’s qadi [legal cleric] ruled that I should be executed by gunfire,” Banqasli recounted. “Just as they were about to shoot me, their leader intervened, saying, ‘Hold on, the sentence is canceled.’ He pushed the hand of the executioner down, but the man had already pulled the trigger. The bullet hit my knee instead of my head. It turns out that they had had a discussion among themselves about how I was not with them, but not with the regime either, so they could benefit from me in the future if they spared my life. They kept me bleeding for four hours before handing me over to relatives.”
As with any other war, the Syrian war is one of two different stories. One reflects the consequences of military action — tragic civilian losses, destruction and millions of suffering refugees — and, as such, it is a condemnation of the regime. Its dramatic scale overshadows the story of the “other Syria,” which we rarely hear about, but which explains why the regime remains on its feet.
The pictures of “martyrs” I saw plastered along the streets of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Tartus and Latakia speak to how the war has swallowed lives from various communities. In Bab Tuma, in Damascus' old city, a wall displaying pictures of Shiite victims faces a wall displaying pictures of the Christian dead. On Arman Street in Homs, a giant board displays the photos of 1,300 people killed in the conflict — Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Christians alike. In Latakia, the obituary notice of a fallen Muslim fighter, inscribed with a Quranic verse, faces one of a Christian victim with a citation from the Bible. In Homs and Latakia, Muslims and Christians living in mixed neighborhoods are at ease with each other’s culture. Visiting the other’s religious shrines or marking religious holidays together is not an uncommon practice. This special fabric of Syrian communities continues to serve as a social glue.
The fantastical belief that Assad will ultimately withdraw to the mainly Alawite coastal strip and create an Alawite state there is met with a big laugh in Latakia, which along with Tartus has become a safe haven for thousands of Sunnis fleeing bloodshed in other areas. I asked Tartus Governor Safwan Abu Saadeh how the city was coping with the influx. “Tartus’ population of 900,000 has doubled. Tartus is now a little Syria,” he said. “People came from Raqqa, Aleppo, Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib. They are all Sunnis.”
Some of the new arrivals are accommodated by the government, while others rent homes with their own means. Many have found work and provide for themselves. Barring occasional rocket fire, Latakia and Tartus retain their relaxed atmospheres. The pressure of the newcomers is not immediately discernible in the streets.
Latakia’s beach offers a good illustration of the newcomers’ profile, refuting the Alawite state scenario. Next to the Ramel al-Janoubi Palestinian refugee camp, the beach resembled a fairground when I took an evening walk through the area. Families had sat down to eat, enjoying themselves. With a Turkish journalist in their midst, refugees from Idlib and Aleppo were eager to slam the Turkish government — and those were the conservative and pious Sunnis. Defying the sectarian narrative, the scene at the beach was like one cheerful brushstroke over a gloomy picture of war.
For Syrians, economic hardship remains a problem as serious as security. Abu Ahmed, a greengrocer in Latakia, said, “The tomatoes and cucumbers are coming from Hama and Homs. A truck from Aleppo used to deliver for 5,000 [Syrian] pounds [$26], now it comes for 100,000 pounds [$530]. The price of diesel [per liter] has increased from 7 [$.04] to 140 pounds [$.74]. Shipping costs have tripled, and sales are down.” At the two marketplaces I toured in Damascus, people voiced a common grievance: Wages have remained the same over the past four years, while food prices have tripled.
The regime’s efforts to alleviate economic stress are noteworthy. The government has continued to pay the salaries of public employees, including those in rebel-controlled areas. Garbage collection and other public services remain in operation. In short, the state continues to function. Even more remarkably, the regime has used its capacity to the fullest to sustain the supply of critical products, such as wheat and flour. Grain produced in the rural areas of Idlib, Raqqa, Aleppo and Hasakah is taken to regime-controlled areas by contracted trucks and shipped to cities via a perilous route, escorted by the military. In other words, the Mukhabarat structure — one of the reasons behind the uprising — is now fortifying the pillars of the regime through crisis management.
Power and water cuts are also serious problems plaguing the population. Power and water have both become weapons in contested areas, with Aleppo being in a particularly dire situation. Here is how the head of the city’s water authority, Mustapha Melhis, described the state of affairs:
Our water reservoirs are 90 kilometers [56 miles] away, in Hafsa, a region held by IS [Islamic State]. In May, they cut the amount of water [supplied] by half. They asked for sterilization tablets although they had them in their stocks. Using this pretext, they cut the water and resumed the supply only after the tablets were delivered. Our engineers are with them and are held as captives. We still pay their salaries. The second aspect of the problem is distribution. The water pumped by IS flows to the Suleiman Halabi and Bab al-Nairab stations here [in Aleppo]. Both areas are controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra, and they are using the water as a weapon to impose their demands. In return for water, they ask for electricity, for instance. Because they attack transformers, power outages occur. When we began using diesel to generate power, they started asking for electricity. To keep the [water] pumping station working, we wanted to send a diesel power-generation unit there via the Red Crescent. They added a condition that the machine should deliver electricity to them as well. We proceeded, but the pumps were switched off anyway. They are now pumping us half of the water. … We are able to supply water only one day per week. The people working with Nusra there are our employees as well, a total of eight people. They are kept in a room and made to work on shifts of four people, banned from using mobile phones. We dispatch teams for maintenance work as well. They are not taken captive because they bring in equipment.
Aleppo Governor Mohammad Marwan Olabi noted, “The power plants are outside the city. Terrorists control two areas from where electricity lines to Aleppo pass. A line of Syria’s general electricity network passes via Zurbi. They keep targeting the power lines. In the north, we have a thermal power plant, which is also held by armed groups. Whenever they want to put pressure on Aleppo, they cut the electricity. And when electricity is gone, the water supply is cut off as well.”
As the war drags on, the Syrian people’s social and cultural fabric has emerged as its strongest hedge against sectarian strife. Although it took a blow in the beginning, this fabric seems to be strengthening anew.
KoTeMoRe- Posts : 4212
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Join date : 2015-04-22
Location : Krankhaus Central.
- Post n°25
Re: Syrian Civil War: News #2
ExBeobachter1987 wrote:Exploring the 'other Syria'
ALEPPO, Syria — During a recent trip to Aleppo, which self-styled pundits like to call a “Sunni” city, I stopped by the stall of a street vendor, a woman covered in black attire, to see what she had to offer. Filled with Syrian army badges and pins with the Syrian flag along with images of President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the stall reflected the spirit at the fore – or being brought to the fore — in regime-controlled areas.
Nasrallah posters are not unusual in Homs, a city with a large Shiite population, but in Aleppo, his image adorning walls next to posters of Assad is a sight that defies comprehension. In the “other Syria,” the one we don't hear about, Hezbollah’s support on the battlefield, from Qusair to Qalamoun, has earned Nasrallah a reputation that transcends sectarian boundaries. This was exemplified by my Christian guide, a native of Homs, who sang along enthusiastically when our Alawite driver played a song in praise of Nasrallah while driving us from Homs to Tartus. I also saw it in Baqdash, the famous ice cream parlor in the old city of Damascus whose walls were once covered with photos of famous visitors, including Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan and Jordan’s King Abdullah. Today, the only frame left on the wall holds a thank you letter from Nasrallah for the financial support the establishment has provided to “the resistance.” Asked why the celebrity photos were gone, the shop owner replied, “No one who undermines this country can have their picture on this wall.”
Meanwhile, Assad’s most widely displayed poster features the slogan “We are with you.” Earlier, such displays of veneration could have been explained as an effort to keep the feared Mukhabarat (the intelligence directorate) at bay, but at this time of war, the urge to lionize the leader has deepened.
Criticism of the regime notwithstanding, the citizenry's growing desire to embrace their “Syrianness” and to save the Syrian state seems to have reduced the rift that opened along sectarian fault lines after 2011. In previous trips to Syria, I had observed that many Syrians would frown when asked whether they were Alawite or Sunni. They sensed malice in the question and would answer pointedly, “I’m a Syrian.” The number of such people appears to have markedly increased. Inquiring about someone’s sect was taboo and remains so, but with one major difference: Before, the question would cause annoyance, now it causes anger.
Myriad reasons can be attributed to why criticism of the regime has toned down while the emphasis on Syrianness has grown. Chief among them are the stories of people who have been attacked, kidnapped, tortured or killed simply because of their sect. Kamal Banqasli, a businessman from Aleppo, is a man with one such story.
During a conversation at a private dinner, Banqasli displayed the scars on his arms and feet as he shared his story. “I was kidnapped by opposition forces. They demanded a ransom of 1 million Syrian pounds [$5,300], which I rejected. Then they tortured me. I had my arms slashed with a knife and two toes broken. The group’s qadi [legal cleric] ruled that I should be executed by gunfire,” Banqasli recounted. “Just as they were about to shoot me, their leader intervened, saying, ‘Hold on, the sentence is canceled.’ He pushed the hand of the executioner down, but the man had already pulled the trigger. The bullet hit my knee instead of my head. It turns out that they had had a discussion among themselves about how I was not with them, but not with the regime either, so they could benefit from me in the future if they spared my life. They kept me bleeding for four hours before handing me over to relatives.”
As with any other war, the Syrian war is one of two different stories. One reflects the consequences of military action — tragic civilian losses, destruction and millions of suffering refugees — and, as such, it is a condemnation of the regime. Its dramatic scale overshadows the story of the “other Syria,” which we rarely hear about, but which explains why the regime remains on its feet.
The pictures of “martyrs” I saw plastered along the streets of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Tartus and Latakia speak to how the war has swallowed lives from various communities. In Bab Tuma, in Damascus' old city, a wall displaying pictures of Shiite victims faces a wall displaying pictures of the Christian dead. On Arman Street in Homs, a giant board displays the photos of 1,300 people killed in the conflict — Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Christians alike. In Latakia, the obituary notice of a fallen Muslim fighter, inscribed with a Quranic verse, faces one of a Christian victim with a citation from the Bible. In Homs and Latakia, Muslims and Christians living in mixed neighborhoods are at ease with each other’s culture. Visiting the other’s religious shrines or marking religious holidays together is not an uncommon practice. This special fabric of Syrian communities continues to serve as a social glue.
The fantastical belief that Assad will ultimately withdraw to the mainly Alawite coastal strip and create an Alawite state there is met with a big laugh in Latakia, which along with Tartus has become a safe haven for thousands of Sunnis fleeing bloodshed in other areas. I asked Tartus Governor Safwan Abu Saadeh how the city was coping with the influx. “Tartus’ population of 900,000 has doubled. Tartus is now a little Syria,” he said. “People came from Raqqa, Aleppo, Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib. They are all Sunnis.”
Some of the new arrivals are accommodated by the government, while others rent homes with their own means. Many have found work and provide for themselves. Barring occasional rocket fire, Latakia and Tartus retain their relaxed atmospheres. The pressure of the newcomers is not immediately discernible in the streets.
Latakia’s beach offers a good illustration of the newcomers’ profile, refuting the Alawite state scenario. Next to the Ramel al-Janoubi Palestinian refugee camp, the beach resembled a fairground when I took an evening walk through the area. Families had sat down to eat, enjoying themselves. With a Turkish journalist in their midst, refugees from Idlib and Aleppo were eager to slam the Turkish government — and those were the conservative and pious Sunnis. Defying the sectarian narrative, the scene at the beach was like one cheerful brushstroke over a gloomy picture of war.
For Syrians, economic hardship remains a problem as serious as security. Abu Ahmed, a greengrocer in Latakia, said, “The tomatoes and cucumbers are coming from Hama and Homs. A truck from Aleppo used to deliver for 5,000 [Syrian] pounds [$26], now it comes for 100,000 pounds [$530]. The price of diesel [per liter] has increased from 7 [$.04] to 140 pounds [$.74]. Shipping costs have tripled, and sales are down.” At the two marketplaces I toured in Damascus, people voiced a common grievance: Wages have remained the same over the past four years, while food prices have tripled.
The regime’s efforts to alleviate economic stress are noteworthy. The government has continued to pay the salaries of public employees, including those in rebel-controlled areas. Garbage collection and other public services remain in operation. In short, the state continues to function. Even more remarkably, the regime has used its capacity to the fullest to sustain the supply of critical products, such as wheat and flour. Grain produced in the rural areas of Idlib, Raqqa, Aleppo and Hasakah is taken to regime-controlled areas by contracted trucks and shipped to cities via a perilous route, escorted by the military. In other words, the Mukhabarat structure — one of the reasons behind the uprising — is now fortifying the pillars of the regime through crisis management.
Power and water cuts are also serious problems plaguing the population. Power and water have both become weapons in contested areas, with Aleppo being in a particularly dire situation. Here is how the head of the city’s water authority, Mustapha Melhis, described the state of affairs:
Our water reservoirs are 90 kilometers [56 miles] away, in Hafsa, a region held by IS [Islamic State]. In May, they cut the amount of water [supplied] by half. They asked for sterilization tablets although they had them in their stocks. Using this pretext, they cut the water and resumed the supply only after the tablets were delivered. Our engineers are with them and are held as captives. We still pay their salaries. The second aspect of the problem is distribution. The water pumped by IS flows to the Suleiman Halabi and Bab al-Nairab stations here [in Aleppo]. Both areas are controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra, and they are using the water as a weapon to impose their demands. In return for water, they ask for electricity, for instance. Because they attack transformers, power outages occur. When we began using diesel to generate power, they started asking for electricity. To keep the [water] pumping station working, we wanted to send a diesel power-generation unit there via the Red Crescent. They added a condition that the machine should deliver electricity to them as well. We proceeded, but the pumps were switched off anyway. They are now pumping us half of the water. … We are able to supply water only one day per week. The people working with Nusra there are our employees as well, a total of eight people. They are kept in a room and made to work on shifts of four people, banned from using mobile phones. We dispatch teams for maintenance work as well. They are not taken captive because they bring in equipment.
Aleppo Governor Mohammad Marwan Olabi noted, “The power plants are outside the city. Terrorists control two areas from where electricity lines to Aleppo pass. A line of Syria’s general electricity network passes via Zurbi. They keep targeting the power lines. In the north, we have a thermal power plant, which is also held by armed groups. Whenever they want to put pressure on Aleppo, they cut the electricity. And when electricity is gone, the water supply is cut off as well.”
As the war drags on, the Syrian people’s social and cultural fabric has emerged as its strongest hedge against sectarian strife. Although it took a blow in the beginning, this fabric seems to be strengthening anew.
I wonder what will happen to these people once a compromise will be found...